


Orange is the new Baek

by Swolosheep



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Prison, Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Angst, Barebacking, Cuffs, Eventual Romance, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 18:04:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17451806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swolosheep/pseuds/Swolosheep
Summary: Imprisoned for opposing a tyrant king, Baekhyun isn't looking forward to a life behind bars. That's until he meets a handsome guard named Chanyeol, who rocks his world in ways he'd never even dare to imagine.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes the description is kind of cheesy but I couldn’t think of anything better so we’re just going to have to live with it.
> 
> My intention was to write a pwp with a short background story about how Baekhyun got into prison in the first place, but here we are.
> 
> Big thanks to my beta [Spookje](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spookje), who is always inspiring me to do better and corrects my horrible spelling.
> 
> Enjoy reading!

“I was thinking of placing explosives under the bridge leading to the palace, that way the King will miss out on essential supplies that can only be delivered by train.” 

Baekhyun can’t do anything but nod along with everyone else in the room. The plan itself isn’t that bad, but it doesn’t cover how they are going to get all the proper supplies to make a bomb that powerful. However, this is more of a ‘coming up with possible plans to let the King know the people are unhappy with his rulership’ kind of meeting, instead of ‘plans we’re going to execute right away’ meeting. So he keeps his mouth shut, letting his fellow Underground Resistance member enjoy the temporarily bliss that comes with suggesting something that everybody can agree on. It’s not that living in the slums while their King builds another enormous palace brings much happiness, so every positive emotion is more than welcome.   
A few other plans pass by, each one more ridiculous than the previous. Baekhyun’s pretty sure he hears the word mass hypnosis thrown around more than once. That’s usually the point where he zones out, letting everyone speak their mind until they drown in their own absurdness, aching for some rational idea’s. That’s where he comes in, pouring out every idea that he’s got to a room that’s eventually willing to listen, a pretty good strategy if you ask him.

It’s a day much like the ones before it, the scorching sun beaming down on his ink black hair before entering the Underground Resistance building masked as your everyday bakery. At the back of the bakery there is an ‘employees only’ door that actually leads to a small meeting room. That way they won’t arouse any suspicion with the King’s guards if they enter the building in bigger groups. All the soldiers in employment of the King are named ‘King’s guards’ because every one of them, whether directly or indirectly, is protecting the King. The ones patrolling their neighbourhood do their part by keeping an eye out on the workers so they don’t conspire against the King. This has been the policy ever since a near fatal attack on the then crown prince several decades ago. 

Just like previous meetings, chatter is slowly starting to slow down and Baekhyun awaits his opportunity to talk like a predator waiting for its prey to leave their hiding place. A loud bang followed up by the crashing of a door sends everyone in the room in a frenzy, their lair must have been discovered. Baekhyun can hear the ‘bakers’ in the front of the store attempting to put up a fight, but the sound of two gunshots followed by complete silence tells him they’ve met their end. There is no time to weep for his lost Resistance members, that’ll come once he made his escape. He is the last one to get out of the tiny room onto one of the escape tunnels, his heartbeat almost drowning out the sound of heavy footsteps following close behind him. Cursing his short legs, Baekhyun tries his hardest to outrun the well-trained King’s guards on the open street, but to no avail. Growing up he was always the slowest, never able to outrun his older brother, or even their aging father. The harsh push against his shoulder causing him to tumble towards the ground comes as no surprise, the guards caught up with him without even breaking a sweat. The impact of his cheek against one of the protruding stones is painful to say the least, something that will very likely leave behind a scar. In the distance he can hear the other members resisting their arrest. Baekhyun can’t find it in himself to put up a fight, knowing full well that the bulky man looming over him could probably snap his neck with one hand. 

It’s only when he’s being dragged out of the bakery for all to see that the reality of the situation starts to sink in. Dozens of curious eyes follow him stumbling after the King’s guard, but he’s too wrapped up in the storm going on in his head to notice. Some of the less vocal members weren’t present during the last few meetings, nothing too suspicious. In hindsight, it should have been a warning sign. The two -Baekhyun can’t even remember their names- joined out of nowhere because they wanted to do the right thing and fight against their King’s tyranny. They didn’t contribute much and occasionally flinched at the wild plans the Underground Resistance came up with. Now that Baekhyun puts two and two together it’s obvious they’ve been ratted out. He inwardly curses at himself for not picking up obvious signs of their eventual betrayal, but that’s all in vain. He can curse all he wants, but he’s still being thrown in the back of a police truck, one specifically designed to transport prisoners. The cold metal cuffs around Baekhyun’s wrists get fastened to the wall and his ankles get cuffed together as well. He can barely move a muscle. One of the King’s guards joins them before the doors are being thrown shut.

All of the guards wear identical black helmets with a small golden crown on the left corner, effectively blocking anyone from seeing their face. It makes for quite the intimidating sight, Baekhyun would cower if his movements weren’t restricted. None of the members are stupid enough to talk, even though their mouths haven’t been covered. The presence of the guard visibly carrying a weapon prevents them from doing so out of fear. The silence is all they’re left with and Baekhyun never liked silence. It makes him crawl in his own head, letting fear and doubt consume his mind. There is no chatter to serve as distraction and his thoughts flash back to his family possibly waiting for him to get home. He can imagine the fear in his parents’ eyes when he doesn’t return home in the morning, the both of them assuming the worst. He is usually home late, but never fails to join his parents for breakfast to tell them all about last night’s meeting. It’s a tradition that they’ve developed over the years, whatever goes through their heads when they see an empty chair at the table must be horrible. If that’s the case, they’re not wrong. He’s either being transported to the palace square for public execution or to the prisons at the edge of the city. What happens at the prisons is a mystery to all civilians, but it certainly won’t be pretty. 

When Baekhyun shifts his gaze from his old and battered shoes to the man in front of him, they lock eyes, unfortunately. He can see the fear and sorrow swimming around in there, it looks like he’s on the edge of breaking down. If he recalls correctly, the man is only a few years older than him, but already has a wife and two children. Something breaks within Baekhyun, seeing a desperate father that will never see his children grow up, someone who will never feel the embrace of his loving wife again. He quickly averts his eyes, not being able to handle the reality of the situation. His shoes suddenly become interesting again, a pair that he’s owned for almost a decade now. When there’s no money to buy new ones, you’re forced to wear shoes long after they’ve stopped being comfortable. Even with both of his parents working full time, there was never enough money to buy proper clothes. Factory workers barely get enough to eat three meals a day. With the way the system works, if you’re born poor, you’ll stay poor. School costs money and not eating to grant your children an education is not an option for the long term. His parents thought him and his brother everything they’ve learned over the years. Which had more to do with proper manners and ways to survive rather than typical book knowledge. 

Not that Baekhyun minded that much, as a child he never longed to spend his entire day in a stuffy building surrounded by snobby rich kids. He used to despise the uniform clad children walking to school in neat rows, sneering insults about them being brainwashed to his brother. Together they would make fun of others that lived a life they never could, telling themselves it wasn’t envy they felt. Now that Baekhyun’s older he knows better. He would trade a limb to get an education and he also learned that not everyone born wealthy is a stuck up arsehole. Several of the Underground Resistance members have been born with a silver spoon in their mouth, yet they fight the system with more passion than he could ever muster. He’s even come to like one of them, Junmyeon is his name. The son of one the factory owners was quick to join the Resistance once he became of age, having a very strong sense of right and wrong. Baekhyun’s eyes dart around attempting to locate the man, only to find him sitting to his right. Despite the situation they’re in, he gives Baekhyun an encouraging nod. A glance at his bloodshot eyes and wet cheeks shows that he’s been silently crying, he no doubt has the same doom scenarios going through his head. 

A bump in the road makes the whole truck shake, causing Baekhyun’s wrists to strain against the cuffs. The feeling itself is quite painful, but it makes him sigh in relief. An uneven road means they’re driving away from the city centre, towards the edge of town. All though going to prison doesn’t sound very appealing, nothing’s more final than death. He hadn’t expected for them to be executed right away, but being in the back of the police truck will make you think of every possible worst case scenario.   
To Baekhyun it feels like several hours passed before the truck finally comes to a screeching halt. Judging from the stance of the sun, it might have been thirty minutes max. The massive grey building towering above them gives Baekhyun the shudders. He doesn’t particularly look forward to spend his entire life in prison. Barbed wired fence surrounds the entire facility, leaving a narrow path towards the entrance. 

As much as Baekhyun would like to remember every twist and turn they take, his brain is too clouded with panic. When he realises that he’s absorbing absolutely nothing, he gives up and tries to keep up with the fast pace of the guards leading them. One by one they are being manhandled into a cell, some try to struggle, but most of the Resistance members don’t have a lot of fight left in them. Baekhyun keeps his eyes solely trained on Junmyeon’s back in an attempt to at least remember which cell they put him in. Soon enough it’s his turn, the guard starts pushing him towards one of the heavy steel doors. To his surprise, the cell itself doesn’t take up the entire room. The area between the iron bars and the steel door leaves enough room for someone to walk past them, a conscious design choice. Baekhyun did not expect to be the kind of prisoner that gets watched 24/7, but it’s not like he has any say in the matter. The cell holds a small bed, a toilet and a sink, both of which are remarkably clean. 

The guard that has been guiding him towards his cell locks it behind him and goes to stand with his back against the wall. Now that there are constant eyes on him, he can’t let out the emotions pent up inside of him. Maybe the guard is ordered to stay in his room as a way to slowly drive prisoners insane, because he can already feel irritation bubble up from constantly seeing the black helmet out of the corner of his eye. Three short knocks against the door makes Baekhyun’s attention shift. There is no time to feel relief when the King’s guard leaves only to be immediately replaced with what looks like a prison guard. The guy doesn’t have a black helmet, but the stoic expression on his face doesn’t make Baekhyun feel any more at ease. The unmissable golden crown is sown on his jacket right above his heart. Where the King’s guards wear heavy protective armour, prison guards are clad in what reminds him of a more ceremonial looking suit. Not that he’s an expert on uniforms, but it’s obviously not designed to offer a lot of protection.

Baekhyun doesn’t bother getting too familiar with his surroundings, it dawns on him that he’ll have the rest of his life to do so, so there’s no rush. Joining the Resistance came with the risk of getting arrested, the King isn’t very keen on people who oppose his leadership. He doesn’t regret joining to fight for a better future, not yet at least. He’s certain that after a couple of years his opinion on the matter will have changed. Will he still be the same Baekhyun that came in after such a long while? His family and friends, his work at the factory, his ability to crack jokes make him who he is. Now that’s all been taken away from him. The worst part is that they won’t even get a trial, they will not be able to fight to prove that what the Resistance is doing is for the better. The King never was a fair man, so even if their missions have had no casualties, they’ll go to prison for life all the same. 

Baekhyun lies down on the mattress with his back towards the guard, getting more frustrated the more he thinks about it. Despite his best efforts not to think about them, his thoughts continue to drift back to his family, who will know something’s up by now. Never will he be able to see them again, he might even forget their faces. With one finger he tries to trace his mother’s face along the wall, the droopy eyes he got from her, a small nose and lips curling up in a permanent smile. With his face now completely obscured from prying eyes, he dares to let a few tears fall from his eyes. 

It was not his intention to fall asleep, so it’s a surprise to find the morning sun beaming down on his face through the bars in front of the only window in his cell. When he turns around he sees that the initial guard has been replaced by one that looks just as stern. Baekhyun gets up to stretch his stiff limbs, mentally preparing himself for a day of boredom, one of many to come. It seems like the guard has other plans, moving from his position by the door to drag Baekhyun out of his cell. 

“What are you doing, where are we going?!” He frantically asks all while trying to struggle out of his too tight cuffs. There is no answer from the guard who keeps his eyes trained on ahead, not even acknowledging him. Maybe this is it, the prison was serving as a temporary holding cell just so he could get executed later. Baekhyun’s is about to make a foolish attempt to escape when he spots a huge sign above the door they are heading towards. ‘Showers’, it simply says. If he had the energy to cry, he would. Not only has it been a while since he enjoyed a proper shower, this probably means that he’s not being sent to his death. At home they don’t have running water and have to fetch it from a well a few blocks away from their house in order to wash themselves. That makes a shower look like a luxury. 

“If you’re not out in five minutes you’ll get punished,” is all the guard says before he takes off the cuffs, drags Baekhyun towards a shower cabin and harshly slams the door, leaving him to himself. The lights flicker on automatically, revealing a tiny but clean shower. A bright orange jumpsuit in what looks to be around his size hangs from the wall. He expected to be sleeping in his own filth but he already gets the privilege of taking a shower after having only spent one night in this cell. It has been a very strange experience up until now. He turns on the shower spray and emerges himself in the lukewarm water, quickly washing himself with the provided soap. He barely finished putting on his jumpsuit before another guard opens the door. To say he’s been blown away by the sheer beauty of this man would be an understatement. Unlike the other guards, his expression isn’t filled with resentment when he lays his eyes on Baekhyun. There is uncertainty in his grip when he guides Baekhyun out of the shower, making him seem a lot more sympathetic in comparison to his colleagues. Pairing that with his breathtakingly handsome features and what looks like to be a well-trained body and you have the perfect man right there. When he speaks, a low baritone voice fills the room, echoing slightly, giving Baekhyun the pleasure of hearing the words he utters more than once. 

“We’re going to get your measurements for shoes and other jumpsuits, follow me.” The handsome guard phrases his sentence more like a question that an order, further cementing Baekhyun’s speculation that the guard must be new and still has the decency to treat him like a human being instead of seeing him as a number. 

Wait, did he hear that correctly? Is he going to get a custom fitted jumpsuit? This prison surely is a bizarre place. It’s different than he expected it to be, in a good way. At least now he knows that he won’t be killed for certain, no way that precious time and money would be spent on a prisoner that’s going to be publicly executed. Which means he’s going to be stuck in this place until the day he dies. If that’s the case, he can at least entertain himself a little. The universe has just presented him with the perfect opportunity to do so, in the form of a handsome guard that doesn’t appear to resent him for his financial status. 

“I’d follow you anywhere,” Baekhyun replies cheekily but the guard pointedly ignores him. The only way in which he notices that the guard picked up on his flirting is the subtle shift in his expression. He looks slightly constipated, something which encourages Baekhyun to continue his one sided flirting while he’s being taking to another room for what he assumes is fitting. 

“So tell me, what’s your name?” 

Unsurprisingly, the guard doesn’t bother with a response. “You probably already know this, but my name is Baekhyun,” he continues unbothered. “I like long walks on the beach and men in tight suits.” As much as he would like to reach out to the other to double down on his intentions, a sharp pain cutting his wrist reminds him of the fact that he’s been cuffed again. He hadn’t noticed the taller man cuffing him, but then again he was very distracted by his face. Also he has never in his life visited a beach but he knows that they’re supposed to be romantic. 

“I actually thought prison would be much worse, but everything here is so clean. Why’s that?” It’s surprising with how much the guard lets him get away with, even though he hasn’t answered a single question. Luckily the guy is horrible at masking his expressions so Baekhyun has something to hold onto. Right now his annoyance is quite noticeable, yet he doesn’t make any attempt to shut Baekhyun up. He’s convinced that it will only take time before the two of them are on speaking terms. Maybe prison won’t be that bad.


	2. Chapter 2

A few weeks later, not a single sound from the guard and Baekhyun is more than ready to swallow his words. The days crawl by in an agonizingly slow pace. He is allowed to leave his cell to shower, walk outside for a short amount of time, pay a quick visit the library and work out. Another thing to add to the weird vibes of this place is that inmates are indeed allowed to work out. There is an entire room filled with a wide variety of sports gear free to use. Even with exercise and books, his days are dull. He has already counted all the bricks of his cell wall three times just to make sure the number he ended up with the first few times was correct. As soon as a very familiar face pops through the door his previously sour mood disappears quicker than the King builds new palaces. Although he has been heavily discouraged by the lack of response, Baekhyun wouldn’t be Baekhyun if it wasn’t for his stubbornness.

“Happy to see me again?” The figure leaning against the wall facing his cell scoffs. Not the answer Baekhyun hoped for, but it’s something. “Oh, so you’re not deaf? I kind of assumed since you didn’t respond to any of my many questions. In hindsight, being a deaf guard might not been the best combination, so this mistake is on me,” he rambles, hoping that he’s able to pull more reactions out of the man standing opposite of him. The guard narrows his eyes but doesn’t give Baekhyun the pleasure of hearing his voice again. With all his best efforts being in vain, it’s safe to say that frustration is starting to bubble up in his chest. In an attempt to not let it get the better of him, he clenches his teeth and pretends to be unbothered by the fact that he’s basically been having a conversation with himself for two solid weeks. 

“Aren’t you wondering why I’m here?” If the lights in the prison cell weren’t so bright Baekhyun would have almost missed the glint of curiosity in the guard’s deep, brown eyes. “It’s because I’m part of an organisation actively fighting an unfair system which only benefits the already wealthy. But we never resulted to violence, the only way to show our displeasure was by inconveniencing the King himself, because he would otherwise never listen to us. The other captured people and I would meet up after finishing 12 hour long shifts in the factory, our backs and feet aching from all the harsh labour under unsafe conditions. But even after all that, we offered up our much needed free time in order to fight the injustice so others wouldn’t face any repercussions. To try to make this shithole of a world a better place.” Balling his fists in frustration, Baekhyun can feel his nails painfully digging into his own flesh, but he doesn’t care. The need to make a point is more important to him. 

“I’m here because I didn’t want my future children to grow up in those kind of circumstances. I’m here because I can’t just idly stand by as the King runs our country to the ground. Guess that qualifies me to be put in the same prison as rapists and murderers. It’s fucking unfair and as a prison guard you’re contributing to it as well,” Baekhyun spits, riling himself up with his little speech. What started as an attempt to catch the guard’s interest has morphed in anger coursing through his veins. The other seems to be taken back by his heated words, Baekhyun would almost mistake the indescribable glint in his eyes as guilt. If the man truly felt that way he would have at least responded, so Baekhyun knows better than to fool himself into thinking the guard feels any form of sympathy towards him. He gives one of the iron bars a harsh kick before marching towards his bed, turning his back towards the one guarding him. ‘It’s unfair, everything is unfair’ still echoes through his head while he stares at the thick wall separating him from the outside world. Where he should be spending the last few years of his twenties, but instead he is locked up. The people holding him here don’t deserve to be talked to and with that Baekhyun promises himself to never attempt to make conversation with any of them again. 

Baekhyun’s self-imposed silent treatment last about three days, before he succumbs to the eerie silence surrounding him at all times. This time around he doesn’t wait for a familiar face to enter the room. The guard currently in front of the iron bars does not seem like the type that would kill him as soon as he opens his mouth. Which is more than enough for Baekhyun, who is starting to feel like his sanity is slipping. “I just had the worst week of my life, you won’t believe,” he starts, giving the guard an overly detailed explanation of every little thing that happened that happened in the last couple of days. There is not much to tell, but Baekhyun feels relieved to be able to use his voice again. To his surprise, the guard moves from his position close to the wall and starts to unlock his prison cell. He’s already been to the showers in the morning and it’s not one of the days in which he has requested to use the gym. So why is the uptight looking guard currently storming towards him? The answer comes in the form of a fist connecting with his face with a force that makes him tumble to the ground. 

“What the fuck?!” Baekhyun directs his anger to the guard standing over him, his face twitching in anger. 

“Should’ve just kept your mouth shut, inmate,” he says through clenched teeth before continuing his violent onslaught. Those words are the last thing Baekhyun hears before he blacks out from the pain. 

“What were you thinking? You can’t go around punching inmates! I’ve guarded Baekhyun for a while and there has not been one instance in which he’s shown violent behaviour.” The deep, rich voice floods Baekhyun’s ears as soon as he regains consciousness. Right after he notices his throbbing headache and wonders how long he’s been out. He doesn’t alert the people arguing of the fact that he has awoken in favour of hearing the fight play out. Though it has been a while since he heard it, Baekhyun is almost positive that the voice belongs to none other than the handsome guard. 

“Chanyeol-”, The other man one tries to argue, drawing out the name in a whiney matter, but Chanyeol leaves him no room.

“I don’t want to hear it. Grab the first aid kit and get out of my face.” Baekhyun feels himself being lifted of the cold ground and delicately placed on a much softer surface. Once he cracks open his eyes a distressed looking guard comes into view, or should he say ‘Chanyeol’. Finally knowing his name feels like an enormous victory and Baekhyun can’t stop the corners of his mouth from curling up in a smile. He decides not to ruin the moment by talking, liking the fact that Chanyeol shows concern for his well-being. 

The other guard eventually arrives with all the necessary supplies and immediately scurries away after one dirty look from Chanyeol. He crouches down on the floor next to Baekhyun’s bed and starts cleaning the wound on the top of his head with the utmost care. 

“You probably got a concussion. So you should take it easy the next couple of days. I’ll make sure you will only be taken to the showers and back.” 

“But Chanyeol, I’ll get incredibly bored. Will you be there to entertain me?” The words are meant to be teasing, but they end up missing that mark because Baekhyun sounds like he’s dying. Still, Chanyeol halts his cleaning and frowns disapprovingly. 

“How do you know my name?” He questions while further narrowing his eyes.

“Well, the other guard called you ‘Chanyeol’, so I assumed that’s what you’re called. Speaking of the other guard. I don’t want him anywhere near my cell ever again.” Baekhyun knows full well that he is in no position to make demands, especially now Chanyeol’s worry has made place for the far more familiar irritation. The other resumes wiping Baekhyun’s face without continuing their short conversation. Just when Baekhyun thought his days of only hearing his own voice were over, he is once again surrounded by suffocating silence. He wants to scream, trash every single thing in the room, punch something, but he doesn’t. He stays perfectly still, letting Chanyeol finish his work before he returns to his usual position against the wall opposite of his cell. It stings that even after getting an actual concussion the other man still refuses to talk to him, but Baekhyun has always liked a challenge. This just means he should try harder. 

It’s safe to say that Baekhyun learned his lesson. He stays completely quiet with the guards rotating their shifts every so often. The only exception of course is Chanyeol. The grin on Baekhyun’s face when the guard enters must be absolutely wicked because instead of the usual blank expression he gets a raised eyebrow. “I missed you, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun pouts before slowly making his way over to the iron bars at the end of his cell. “The others will just beat me up when I do as much as open my mouth. But you’ve always been especially understanding. So thank you.” Flattery, it’s one of the strategies Baekhyun came up with to try and get Chanyeol to talk. 

Chanyeol looks perplexed by Baekhyun’s sincere compliment, so hopefully he’s on the right track. “Any other guard would have left me on the ground to bleed to death, but you’re way nicer that all the other ones.” He adds while innocently blinking up at the figure opposite of him, who’s now sporting a conflicted expression, like he’s forcing himself to swallow the words threatening to spill out. In the end Baekhyun’s gets nothing in return of his shameless flattery. So he crosses that of his imaginary list, ready to change strategies for the next time. 

If Baekhyun had any shred of dignity left he would resent what came next, but at this point he has no other choice. Emotional manipulation might work, Chanyeol has proven to have a sympathetic side. Nothing more effective than making himself look as pathetic and sad as possible. It wasn’t difficult to conjure tears once Chanyeol took his usual position, just thinking about his family easily did the trick. 

“Will you please talk to me, I’m going crazy here,” Baekhyun sobs, his tear-filled eyes obscuring the sight of Chanyeol’s expressive face. “Please,” he whimpers softly, clinging to the bars of his cell like they’re going to offer him any moral support. Even after crying to the point where he feels dehydrated, Chanyeol leaves without having said as much of a word to him. Baekhyun sighs after yet another failed attempt to get the other to talk, leaving him with nothing but a severe headache. 

Bargaining would be his next option if he had anything to bargain for, unless… “If you respond I’ll suck your dick,” Baekhyun bluntly states, obviously catching Chanyeol by surprise, who’s now watching him wide eyed. Baekhyun leans forward, sensually caressing the iron bar closest to him, all while holding the intense eye contact. “Just imagine, your big, hot, throbbing-”

“Fine, I’ll talk,” Chanyeol blurts out, seemingly as shocked as Baekhyun that he decided to open his mouth, ‘just don’t say that again’. Finally, he got Chanyeol to talk. It’s as if a heavy weight has been lifted of his shoulders. In an attempt not to scare a freshly convinced Chanyeol off, Baekhyun keeps his celebrations to a minimum, but lets a smug smile creep through. 

“Tell me about yourself.” Is what he ends up saying, eager to know more about the other.

Chanyeol lifts an eyebrow at that. “Anything specific?” 

“Anything you feel like, I’ll be here for a while.” 

And so Chanyeol does, entertaining Baekhyun with plenty of stories, filling up the time they spent together with endless chatter, or that is what Baekhyun imagined would happen. In reality, he has to pull everything out and still remains the one leading the conversation. 

“Just tell me what you did today, that can’t be that hard,” Baekhyun deadpans after the guard seems to have an inner conflict that’s lasting too long for his taste. “It’s not like I can share the information with anyone else.” 

Chanyeol lets out a dry chuckle at that. “I didn’t do much before I got here. Ate breakfast, showered and brushed my teeth before driving my motorcycle here.” 

“You drive a motorcycle? Sexy. You should take me for a ride sometime,” he jokes.

It’s obvious that Chanyeol doesn’t know how he’s supposed to respond to Baekhyun and his many advances. If he’s honest Baekhyun only flirts with the guard because he knows it makes him uncomfortable, although he wouldn’t mind if the other flirted back. Chanyeol is still attempting to stutter out a response when Baekhyun decides to relief him of his suffering. 

“Joking, relax. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.” To emphasize his point, he cocks his head in the direction of the bars separating them. “Is there anything you like to do on your days off when you don’t have to guard? Like the King’s Birthday for example.” It’s a national holiday celebrating exactly what it says, the day the King was born. Even the low income factory workers like Baekhyun himself, are all allowed the day off. There is an annual celebration on the square in front of the main palace, with market stalls, performers and fireworks that light up the night sky along with the stars once the day comes at its end. Never in his life has Baekhyun attended, because one day of celebration doesn’t make up for the continuous oppression. The tradition to host such a sizable party has been passed down from earlier and far kinder generations of the monarchy. Their current ruler wouldn’t think of such an act for the people all on his own. 

“I make music,” Chanyeol answers in a low voice, interrupting Baekhyun’s fiery inner monologue. 

Baekhyun glances over to the guard’s hands. They’re quite big with long fingers, ideal for playing an instrument… amongst other things. “On your own?” 

“Yeah.” 

“What kind of music?” 

“Whatever I feel like.” Chanyeol shrugs without elaborating any further. Baekhyun would be lying if he called the back and forth currently going on a good conversation. Maybe he forgot the part where they agreed that Chanyeol’s answers couldn’t be more than four words because the other continues to stand by that rule. This is not how Baekhyun wanted it to go, but he can only blame himself for expecting too much. After all, it’s probably not allowed for the guards to communicate with the inmates in any sort of way besides the absolute necessary. 

“Come on, man, don’t make me do all the work here. You’re giving me a headache,” he whines while clutching his head in an over-dramatic way. 

“You have a headache? You should’ve told me earlier. I’m going to check your headwound for infections.” There is no time for Baekhyun to process Chanyeol overhasty jumping to conclusions when the guy is already frantically opening his prison door. His eyes are filled with worry whilst leading Baekhyun to his prison bed so he can sit down. Calloused fingers graze the top of his head ever so gently. If Baekhyun wasn’t completely deprived of any human contact he would have definitely told man leaning over him that what he said was a figure of speech. It’s just been a while and the other’s warmth is comforting him some way. He finds himself leaning into the other’s touch. Chanyeol halts his movement for a second before continuing unbothered. 

After what feel like the best minutes of Baekhyun’s life Chanyeol has concluded that there is no infection. It would be wise for him to remain seated but his hands have a mind of their own, latching themselves onto the fabric of Chanyeol’s uniform. “You might as well stay, I can hear you better that way.” Surprisingly, the other complies, planting himself on the bed next to Baekhyun. 

“Can’t believe we’re starting to be such good friends already. And that when I don’t even know your surname yet.” 

“I think you’re confusing Stockholm syndrome with friendship.” 

“I don’t even know what that is,” Baekhyun says dryly. Though he’s learnt a lot of things from what his parents, friends and life in general have thought him, this so called ‘Stockholm syndrome’ isn’t one of them. 

“When someone is being held hostage their main object is to survive. It overpowers their hate towards their abductor, it’s a defence mechanism of sorts that your mind creates positive feelings for the person causing all your troubles. People end up sympathising with their captor.” 

Scooting closer to the other person occupying his narrow bed, Baekhyun feels his fingers itching to touch something other than his own skin. The urge is strong, yet the somehow still present sane part of his mind assures him that reaching out to guard will only bring trouble. For now he’ll be content with what he’s getting, throwing himself back into the discussion without hesitation. “For someone who sounds so smart, you’re forgetting one very important detail: you aren’t holding me hostage, so it doesn’t count. We can still be friends, or anything else for that matter.” 

Not agreeing with Baekhyun’s thinly conveyed flirting, Chanyeol frowns and abruptly stands up. “We’re not friends, you’re an inmate, I’m a guard. That’s all we’ll ever be to each other. It’s against the rules to communicate with each other besides the absolute necessary.” 

“Yet you’re still talking to me.” 

“That’s because you forced me to!” Chanyeol raises his voice, sounding frantic. Though he is yet to leave the cell, making Baekhyun hopeful that he didn’t just completely ruin what he fought so hard to achieve. 

“Are you saying you don’t enjoy our little chat? I personally prefer it over sitting in silence on hours end. Don’t you?” Baekhyun blinks up at the guard, who’s expression shifts but a trace of uncertainty never leaves his eyes. Sighing, Chanyeol settles himself against the prison bars opposite of Baekhyun’s bed. 

“I’ve got to give you that, but it’s still not ethical for us to have any relation that goes further than being strangers. Seeing as I’m in a position of power.” 

“Ethical? You’ve got to stop using those big words, I never got to attend school.” 

“Why not?” 

It baffles Baekhyun that Chanyeol even has to ask this question, as if he’s completely unaware of the situation simple workers like Baekhyun are in. They must teach something about the way their current society works at school, right? “School is expensive, money that the working class doesn’t have. We don’t get an education, after we turn 14 we get send straight to the factories, no exceptions unless you have a severe disability. Don’t they teach you that kind of stuff?” 

“You’re being truthful?” A sputtering, wide eyed Chanyeol asks in disbelief. 

Baekhyun responds with a sharp nod of his head. 

“In class they always assured us that children of workers went to separate schools closer to the factories in order to make it more convenient for their parents.” 

“They really tell you that? Your image of us must be so different from reality.” A while ago Baekhyun would have felt his blood boiling at the blatantly evil manipulation. Now, being locked up and unable to do anything about it, anger feels pointless. 

“You’re not playing with me for your own entertainment, right?” 

Frowning, Baekhyun denies the accusation. “You think that low of me? Think with the mind of a factory owner trying to spend as little money as possible. Schooling doesn’t make the productivity of a worker any higher, practice does. There is no use for us to get an education so why would they let us?” 

“I- I don’t know how to respond to this. Give me a minute to process.” A whole lot more than a minute of pacing from Chanyeol and Baekhyun can feel his eyes tiring from following the other’s movements. 

“Why don’t we continue this another time? Give it some time, it must be a lot to take in.” Baekhyun can only imagine what it must be like to find out that you’ve been lied to your entire life. 

“Sure, next time.” 

The following days find Baekhyun mostly staying in his own bubble. Guards come and go, but he wisely pays them no mind. Prison life may be boring and lonely, but he certain won’t miss the lingering ache in his muscles from his job at the factory. There is a certain planning which inmates have to follow every day. Baekhyun doesn’t mind it right now, but he knows very well that he’ll grow tired of it eventually. 

At 6 in the morning the lights in their cell are turned up, signalling them to wake up. It’s that Baekhyun is used to waking up before the sun rises, because the harsh lights don’t make it any easier. 

Breakfast is served at 6.30 on the dot. The flavour of the food delivered to the edge of his cell manages to catch him by surprise every morning. His parents would murder him if he told them it’s better than anything they ever cooked. Which is understandable, because the dishes were usually devoid of any distinct flavours. Herbs and spices are not high on the list of things to spend what little money you have on. Whoever prepares the meals for them must be an expert cook, because the food is nothing short of delicious. 

After he finishes his meal, he’s allowed to walk outside in a gated area alongside his guard. It’s nice, getting some fresh air and seeing parts of the forest from something other than an extremely tiny window. Baekhyun estimates that the walk outside takes up about an hour of his day, since there is no indication of time outside the prison walls.

Once returned to the cell, he can choose to go to the gym if he wants to. It’s allowed every day and inmates will be taken there if they request it. Baekhyun usually goes three to four times a week if he feels like it. When he’s inside the gym he makes the best of it, giving his all until guards guide him back to his cell to await his turn for the showers. 

Freshy washed and groomed, it’s time for lunch. That’s also when the guards rotate shifts. The guard now in charge is tasked to accompany him to the library. It’s something Baekhyun is very grateful for. Although they don’t allow books referencing any events before the current linage of Kings took over power, there is still a decently wide selection of fantasy books he can choose from. It’s a step up from the instruction manuals that were a mandatory read back at the factories. With as many books as he’s allowed to borrow, he returns to the confines of his cell, immersing himself in intriguing fantasy worlds. 

The only thing that gets him out his reading trance is the smell of food invading his nostrils. He picks up the tray and practically inhales his dinner. The sun’s already hitting its lowest point before it completely disappears, which signals Baekhyun that he’s about to be taken out his cell for the afternoon walk. There is not much to do after that, he usually continues reading until the lights are automatically dimmed. Baekhyun closes his eyes, ready to do it all over again the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

The following day he’s in the middle of a quite interesting fantasy novel when the sound of rattling keys grab his attention. Without even asking it this time, Chanyeol has entered his cell and makes himself comfortable at the other end of the bed. 

“So I’ve been asking around and much to my dismay, your story has been confirmed by multiple people. Which makes my question what else my teachers have been hiding from me. Could you tell me what your life looked like before you went to prison?” 

Baekhyun almost drops his book in surprise, he didn’t see this kind of reaction coming. “You want to hear my entire life story? That’s the sexiest thing someone has ever asked me.” If there is an opportunity to flirt, Baekhyun will take it with both hands. When he squints his eyes he can spot a slight blush creeping from the collar of Chanyeol’s uniform. 

“Explain to me how that’s sexy?” Pretending as if Baekhyun’s flirtatious words don’t affect him, the guard tries his best to feign annoyance. 

“I like it when people show interest in me,” Baekhyun says while turning his heavy gaze from Chanyeol’s dashingly handsome face to his lean body just for the hell of it. Toying with the tall man is easily becoming one of his new favourite activities. 

“You have some really low standards.” 

“Prison hasn’t exactly made me a picky person.” He notices Chanyeol flinching at his words, which were meant as a light-hearted joke more than anything. 

“About that, share your truth with me, I’m curious about your life experiences.” A pair of big, pleading eyes looking right at him. The inmate lets his mind wander back to his childhood, trying to recall his very first memories. Up until the rainy yet suffocating hot day on which he became eligible to work in the factories, his life wasn’t all that bad. With no school to attend, his days were mostly spent playing around with the other children living close by. As soon as dusk broke, Baekhyun and his older brother would make their way over to the most shabby house in their neighbourhood. Inside it lived Minseok, a man bound to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life because of an accident at the factory where he used to work. Solely relying on the small salary of his husband, he would feed the two hungry Byuns when their parents were caught up working late nights. 

Though the food would never be quite enough, the smile which Minseok blessed him with every time he was able to conjure up a decent meal was more than enough for Baekhyun. There were times in which Baekhyun caught glimpses of the before mentioned husband, who had a permanent smile etched on his face despite the circumstances in which they lived. Similar to Minseok’s husband, Baekhyun’s parents were rarely home. Yet they would always try to muster up smiles, even when their grim, sunken faces would betray their true feelings. He wish he could thank them for putting all their effort into making his childhood as carefree as possible. Making sure Baekhyun and his brother were able to eat when they were away, teaching them everything they had learnt in their lifetime and playing with them after exhausting workdays. 

“Although the unlimited play time sounds amazing, being constantly hungry doesn’t seem like a fun childhood to me.” Chanyeol appears sceptical, maybe because he had a much easier childhood. 

“You get used to it after a while. And this isn’t even the worst part. Like I said, those were my favourite memories.” 

As much as Baekhyun wishes his entire life was that carefree, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Happy, precious memories morph into the grey, overly lit insides of the engine room where he would come to spend most of his time. He vividly remembers him being escorted to the factory not too far from his home, the King’s guards towering over him. The youngest workers like Baekhyun would always clean the hard to reach sides of the machines, even if it was dangerous or the machine was still turned on. The sight of one of his badly injured or even barely alive peers being carried out of the engine room after accidents would severely upset him the first few years. After a while, he grew numb to the sight whenever the blood soaked body of a young child passed him. He considers himself lucky for never falling victim to that kind of accident, because luck was the only thing he had at that point.

A growth spurt hit him around the age of sixteen, rendering him useless for cleaning the machines. That meant getting assigned to whatever position was opened at that time. Lucky children would get send to the sowing section. It’s work that requires a lot of precision, but little physical effort. People who work in that section are rumoured to have a significantly longer lifespan that the other workers.   
However, luck wasn’t on Baekhyun’s side that day. From there on out he would work on the machines that mass produced shoes. That meant everything from assembling parts to technical maintenance. Every day had a very similar routine and while he was working himself into an early grave like everyone around him, the factory owner would sit on his ass the whole day, occasionally coming out of his office to boss them around. Every time that man would screech out orders in his whiney voice, Baekhyun had to hold himself back from openly cursing him out. That anger would fuel him into joining the Underground Resistance. 

He continued to explain how a usual day would look like for him in more detail, all the while Chanyeol watched him with a look of pure horror. “I can’t believe you’ve been treated this way for so long without any sort of riot breaking out.” 

“Well, it’s kind of hard to riot when you return from work absolutely exhausted. Also, my parents told me that it was different when they were younger, before the current King took over the throne.” 

“This is absolutely insane, I must tell people about this,” Chanyeol announces, his eyes filled with determination. 

“Who’s gonna believe you?” Baekhyun ask warily, afraid that it will take a lot more than one man to take down the foundation of what most people believe to be their reality. The young guard seems to be filled with the naïve idea that he can change the world, jumping up from the bed. 

“We don’t need the entire population of the Kingdom to believe me, just the right people. Trust me, change is around the corner,” Chanyeol announces before striding out of Baekhyun’s cell just in time for another guard to take his place. The tall man leaves him with a lot of questions. He just watched a guard that refused to talk to him change into a revolutionist. Maybe he’s right, maybe more people would advocate for change if they knew what happened to low class workers. It’s not as if being rich equates to someone not having morals. Junmyeon and now Chanyeol are a great example of that. 

Speaking of Junmyeon, it’s been a while since he’s seen his friend. He hopes that he hasn’t withered away in his tiny cell. Perhaps his rich parents managed to get him out. Baekhyun wants to believe that that’s the reason he hasn’t caught a glimpse of the man ever since they arrived. Luck would have it, because the next time he’s escorted to the inmate gym, he catches sight of Junmyeon, sweaty and in the middle of an intense work out. Baekhyun purposefully chooses to busy himself with the workout gear right in front of him. The guard appointed to Junmyeon appears to be preoccupied with dreamily staring out of the window, so Baekhyun takes his chance to try and get the other’s attention. Chanyeol makes his way over to the other guard, tapping him on the shoulder before launching them in a conversation. 

“Junmyeon.” No response. He tries again.

“Junmyeon.” Nothing.

“Junmyeon!” That’s enough the get Junmyeon’s attention, who turns his panicked gaze towards the guards before locking eyes with Baekhyun. 

“Baekhyun, what are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed? What if they hear us talk?” Junmyeon whispers through clenched teeth. 

“Don’t worry, Chanyeol will distract your guard.” Baekhyun attempts to reassure his friend who looks at him like he grew a second head.

“Chanyeol? Your guard? How do you know his name? I can’t believe managed to wrap some guard around your finger.” 

“Not right now,” As much as Baekhyun would like to catch up with his friend like they used to, time is of the essence. The guy guarding Junmyeon is bound to check up on them after a while. “Listen, I just want to know how you’re holding up.” 

“I’ve been better, it’s been tough having no proper social interaction for so long.” In front of him sits a defeated man, not at all like the Junmyeon that he’s come to know over the years. His eyes are devoid of their usual spark, framed by heavy eye bags. If only Baekhyun could help him make his stay in prison more bearable. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Junmyeon’s guard crack a smile at something Chanyeol said, dimples appearing close to the corners of his mouth. That gets the wheels inside of Baekhyun’s head turning before a brilliant idea pops up. 

“You know what, maybe you can try what I did with Chanyeol. Pick out the most sympathetic looking guard you can find and try to get him to talk to you. It may take a while but he’ll eventually come around. I think you might have a good shot with the one with us right now.” Baekhyun cocks his head towards the guard who’s too preoccupied to notice two inmates breaking one of the most important rules. Junmyeon appears to be unsure, quickly shifting his eyes in their direction.

“How did you even manage to get Chanyeol to say a single word to you that isn’t an order?” 

“I offered to suck his dick if he did so,” Baekhyun answers nonchalantly. 

“Are you crazy, I’m not going to do that! What if he’s straight?” 

“What do you have to lose at this point? Just set aside your pride. Maybe crying is enough to convince him. Try and see what works. It might stop you from going crazy.” It doesn’t appear that Junmyeon is entirely convinced, but Baekhyun is sure that he’ll eventually be desperate enough to make an attempt. Eventually, his desire to survive will overpower whatever is left of his dignity, or so Baekhyun hopes. He should really push his idea further, but the gym door opens and in come a dozen of other guards and their inmates, making it practically impossible to continue their conversation. Before he knows it, the guard with the dimples takes Junmyeon’s pale hands and cuffs them behind his back.

“Let’s go.” Baekhyun can hear a trace of an unknow foreign accent in his voice, which doesn’t sound that commanding at all. It reminds him of the way Chanyeol addressed him at first. The door closing behind Junmyeon leaves Chanyeol and Baekhyun on their own. The latter picks up two weights and starts doing biceps curls in front of the mirror, noting that Chanyeol’s reflection betrays where his eyes are going. Baekhyun shoots him a cheeky grin at which the guard averts his gaze to the door. 

“Thanks for distracting him,” Baekhyun says, breaking the silence. 

“Oh, Yixing? No problem, he’s been a long-time friend of mine.” A long-time friend? If this Yixing is able to maintain a friendship with Chanyeol, he must be a decent person.

“Yixing, huh? Is he a nice guy?” 

“One of the nicest persons I’ve met in my lifetime. Why? He’s not scheduled to guard you.” 

“No reason, I was just curious.” Good, Baekhyun didn’t basically send Junmyeon to the infirmary in an attempt to get some social interaction. If this Yixing guy is as nice as Chanyeol claims. “Anyway, how is your quest to change the world going so far?” 

Chanyeol’s eyes flare up at Baekhyun’s question, telling the inmate how he and a couple of his closest friends snuck into a low class neighbourhood and took pictures as additional evidence. The guard’s expression falls when he mentions that his parents don’t seem to care about the fate of the lower class. “It’s just like I told you. Even after I showed them the pictures they didn’t show any sort of sympathy. I might not be able to convince everyone, but if I surround myself by the right people it will be enough.” 

“Wait, how did you even manage to get those pictures? Someone like you isn’t allowed to enter the outskirts of the city.” And the other way around. The only day when workers can visit the city centre is on King’s Day. 

Chanyeol lets out a snort. “Do I have a story to tell you.”


	4. Chapter 4

Once a familiar mop of short, dark hair comes in to sight, Chanyeol springs into action. “Kyungsoo, fancy bumping into you here.” 

Kyungsoo fixes his gaze on him and sighs. “What do you want?” 

“Can I have the keys to the office, I lost something of mine and I recall the office being the last place where I’ve seen it. I’ll be super quick.” A blatant lie, but he’s pretty sure that Kyungsoo wouldn’t let him if he knew his actual reasoning. It’s not that Chanyeol is convinced that the other doesn’t have his heart in the right place, but Kyungsoo’s not someone who will join him in his quest to expose the government’s lies without any substantial evidence that the government has been lying. Baekhyun’s story alone won’t be enough to persuade the other. Maybe once Chanyeol has a solid case, but he’ll leave Kyungsoo out of it for now.

“Fine, but don’t tell anyone, otherwise everyone in here will think that I’m just handing out the key.” Kyungsoo stresses before pressing the small object in Chanyeol’s outstretched hand. Patting himself on the back for not arousing any suspicion, especially because Kyungsoo is someone that can easily sniff out lies. He speed walks towards the office. It’s a small, barely furnished room, mostly used by Kyungsoo to get his paperwork in order. Pushed against the wall are several file cabinets, exactly what Chanyeol was looking for. Every King’s guard that delivers prisoners to them has their file in there. They have a different colour, which makes them easy to spot in the sea of papers. In just a few minutes he photographed every file and leaves the office like nothing happened. 

At home, he analyses the files to find out which guards are on tasked to transport newly ‘convicted’ inmates into the prison tomorrow. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to carry everything out on his own. Both Yixing and Jongin have decided to accompany him with this quest. Once Chanyeol told them about his plans, they asked whether they could come along. Sceptical about Chanyeol’s vivid retelling of Baekhyun’s tales, they seemed eager to find out the truth about their government. He makes a mental note to himself to convince the both of them to talk to their respective inmates as well, which will give them even more inside information about the way workers are treated. The three of them meet up at Yixing’s the next morning, discussing on how exactly they’re going to carry this out. 

They need the van the King’s guards use to transport prisoners to get inside the wall without arousing any suspicion, seeing as King’s guards are one of the only ones allowed to enter. However, they won’t take along prison guards inside the walls. That leaves the three of them with no other option than driving the prisoner van themselves and temporarily getting rid of the King’s guards. Overpowering them won’t be much of a problem if they play their cards right. The King’s guards are supposed to arrive around the time their shifts end. In a few minutes they’ve conjured up the plan to lure the King’s guards outside so there won’t be any witnesses. However, keeping them unconscious long enough to not cause a ruckus will be a much more difficult task. 

“No it won’t. I can easily nick some tranquilizer from the infirmary. I have a shift there once a week so it’s not suspicious for me to use the medicine cabinet.” And with that, Yixing crosses another worry off the list. Having a friend that used to study medicine has it perks, although Chanyeol didn’t expect him to offer that kind of help so easily. Stealing medicine must be breaking all kinds of rules. 

“Right, that just leaves us with trying to make up a lie believable enough that they won’t question the fact that they’ve been robbed off their uniforms,” Jongin rightfully mentions. Chanyeol racks his brain in an attempt to come up with a solution. It’s almost impossible to think of something in which they won’t be suspicious, but he’s willing to take that risk. 

“I may have an idea. It’s a bit risky but it’s the best we’ve got, unless you two can come up with something else. So you know how the three of us have to guard inmates on the upper floors of the prison. You know, where they put the dangerous criminals that have less privileges than the other inmates.” 

Jongin as well as Yixing look confused by this statement. “I hear you, what’s your point?” The latter asks. 

“It won’t be much of a stretch if we say a few of them got aggressive when we moved them to the showers and attacked the King’s guards. Because of this their uniforms were ruined and had to be removed for medical examination. We’ll dress them up in the gowns they use in the infirmary and lay them on the beds once we bring back the prisoner van.” 

There is a beat of silence before Jongin starts sputtering in disbelief. “Are you crazy? The fact that we let some inmates out of our sight long enough for them to attack King’s guards is going to get us in a lot of trouble.” 

“You must be kidding me right? The King personally appointed your mother as the head of this prison. She won’t do shit if you’re involved in the situation.” Chanyeol replies and looks over to Yixing for support. The older man nods in agreement.

“He’s right. As if your mom is going to fire her only son.” 

With that, their plan is set in motion. Chanyeol hopes the execution goes well, because if they get caught by the wrong people, not even Jongin’s mother can save them. The evening the King’s guards are supposed to arrive Chanyeol is tasked guarding Baekhyun again. The easy chatter between them calms him down somewhat and if the smaller man sitting next to him notices his nerves, he doesn’t comment on it. When he closes the heavy door leaving Baekhyun’s cell he spots the King’s guards dragging new inmates to their assigned prison cells. There is no doubt in Chanyeol’s mind that most of these people shouldn’t belong here. 

“If looks could kill we wouldn’t have to worry about the King’s guard anymore,” Yixing says, putting a hand on his shoulder. Chanyeol hadn’t noticed him moving so close, but he was too busy staring. Soon Jongin joins them and they start trailing behind the King’s guards. Out of the three of them, Yixing has managed to appear the most calm, his face adorning his usual neutral expression, yet his eyes remain sharp and alert. He wisely takes the lead by asking the King’s guards if they can see the inside of the prisoner van, using curiosity as an excuse. The smallest King’s guard motions them to follow. Chanyeol bumps Jongin’s shoulder and cocks his head in the direction of the beforementioned guard, signalling his friend that the man will be his target. To his left, he can see Yixing moving closer to another King’s guard, leaving the sturdy man in the middle to Chanyeol. 

The three friends nod to each other once they’re out of eyesight and the King’s guards have all turned their backs towards them. The prison is surrounded by forest and the only path that runs through the dense forestation barely has any traffic, making the chance that they get caught minimal. Chanyeol’s long fingers fold themselves around the syringe filled with tranquilizer hidden in the back of his uniform. Before the King’s guard can react to the screams of his colleagues the needle is firmly planted in the back of his neck, making him stagger. Chanyeol doesn’t bother to catch the man, motionlessly watching him falling towards the ground. They drag the unconscious bodies to the truck and undo them of their uniforms. 

It’s decided that Yixing will take the wheel, seeing as he is the most level headed at the moment. As the edge of the city creeps closer, the adrenaline from the attack starts loosing it’s effect. Chanyeol’s uniform suddenly feels 10 sizes too small and the van appears to be going way too fast. It’s as they’re speeding towards their doom. His thoughts drift back to Baekhyun sitting on his narrow bed, trying to catch a glimpse of the outside world through his tiny window. Butterflies flutter in his stomach when he imagines the smile Baekhyun will bless him with once he returns with the good news, that the first step in a new direction has officially been taken. Chanyeol inwardly scolds himself for being such a coward. 

After what feels like a never ending drive, the walls separating the lower class neighbourhood from the rest of the city come into view. In school they learnt that they weren’t allowed to enter because of the toxic pollution. Teachers reassured the young children with the information that all workers get special masks that filter the air. Getting the entire population of the Kingdom masks was simply too expensive, hence why only a select few equipped with the masks could enter. Of course, Baekhyun debunked that by informing him that the ‘mask program’ had been cancelled a few decades ago. Though the pollution isn’t as toxic as they’ve been told, it does take a toll on your body over a longer period of time. If workers hadn’t already passed away from accidents the other likely cause of death was lung cancer, which would mostly occur with middle aged workers whose lungs endured the smog for decades. 

Yixing slows down the van once they’re close to the entrance of the worker’s district. Without as much of a glance, the guards at the entrance post let them in. Why would they, they have no reason to distrust their fellow colleagues. The King’s guard are an extremely loyal bunch. Chanyeol should know, his father used to be one of them. King’s guards amongst the people who run the factories are the only ones permitted to go beyond the wall, but they aren’t allowed to speak a single word about it. Though his father never told a young, curious Chanyeol how the neighbourhood behind the wall looked like, he did use to boast a lot about the privileges he received as a King’s guard. The ones who manage to complete their intense training immediately get a well-paid job. Not only that, they’re allowed to retire after turning 45, getting a huge piece of land and enough money to last a lifetime as their goodbye gift. That makes the King’s guards dependent on the King, one wrong move and all of that is taken away. 

The massive gates slowly open, giving Chanyeol a glimpse of the run down houses Baekhyun spoke about. Not even Baekhyun’s detailed descriptions could prepare Chanyeol for the true horror behind the wall. It’s a miracle some of the buildings are still standing, with the amount of cracks running along the dirty walls. The handful of people walking around on the beat down street are all wearing rags that resemble what Baekhyun was wearing when he first entered prison. Their faces are all hollow and their eyes empty. Heavily contrasting the look of the rest of the neighbourhood, the massive factory buildings stick out like a sore thumb. They look well-maintained, even the windows are practically spotless. It’s obvious that the only government funding the worker neighbourhoods receives goes towards making sure the factories stay in top shape, something which cannot be said for its employees.

Jongin spots an abandoned looking building, it looks no more run down that the rest of the street, but it doesn’t have lights filtering through the windows. Yixing manoeuvres the van so he can park besides the structure. All though the helmet obscures their faces, Chanyeol can see the tension in his friends’ bodies. Yixing seems to be on edge now, his cool lost as his hands are still tightly gripping the wheel long after he shut off the motor. The moment is broken as soon as he throws open the door and motions them to follow. 

Chanyeol expected dirty looks from people once he exits the vehicle, but all cast their eyes down as soon as they spot him. There is no fight left in them, which is not that strange after decades of exploitation. It makes the job of sneakily taking pictures a whole lot easier when no one pays them any mind. Chanyeol’s eyes eventually fall on a house which he recognizes from Baekhyun’s stories. The house he grew up in. The cracks along the dirty walls form something which can be described as a smiley face, just as described. A pair of eyes follow their movement from behind the window, but unlike the others, this man doesn’t avert them. Why would he, when men wearing the same uniforms took away his younger brother. “My brother is named Baekbeom. He’s very overprotective, he still hates the idea of me joining the Underground Resistance.” Baekhyun once told him. This Baekbeom is very perceptive, because his gaze immediately falls on the peculiar device in Chanyeol’s hand. 

“Fuck, I think that guy spotted us,” Jongin whispers panicked, “What should we do?” 

“Don’t worry, it’s Baekhyun’s older brother. I’ll go talk to him.” His two friends don’t seem to agree with that statement, grabbing him by the shoulders to prevent him from walking towards the house.

Yixing softly shakes his head and loosens his grip on Chanyeol’s shoulder. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, it won’t never blow well. Besides, time is of the essence, which we can’t spend on chatting with Baekhyun’s older brother.” Yixing’s voice is gentle, whilst Jongin still hasn’t softened his iron grip. 

“Come on, let’s go.” With that, Chanyeol lets himself get dragged away from Baekbeom’s scrutinizing gaze. He’s regretful of the fact that he can’t comfort Baekhyun’s family, tell them the good news that their beloved son and brother is doing okay. That his efforts to change their living conditions might finally pay off. 

Once Chanyeol’s convinced that he has taken enough pictures, the three ‘King’s guards’ take their leave. They feed the actual King’s guards the lie they made up once they awaken, whose faces all show no hint of scepticism at their made up story. The only repercussions of their actions they end up facing is a scolding from Jongin’s mother the following day. Baekhyun’s blinding smile when Chanyeol tells this story is more than worth the trouble they went through. He absolutely beams at the mention of his brother being alive and well. In Chanyeol’s eyes, Baekhyun is a beautiful man, but he looks the best when he’s smiling. 

He dreads the moment he has to leave the smaller man behind, hating the sight of his face disappearing once he closes the door to his cell. Chanyeol can’t believe he has grown attached to the guy in such a short amount of time, but Baekhyun has already found a place for himself in his heart. If everything goes well, it might be permanent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that there isn't much Chanbaek in this chapter, but I thought it was necessary to give some additional information as well as Chanyeol's perspective on things. The next chapter will be filled with Chanbaek goodness! 


	5. Chapter 5

It seems like the photos are just the beginning. Chanyeol is set on getting the truth out to as many people as possible, mentioning that he even persuaded some of the guards into breaking their oath of silence to ask inmates about their lives. The pride that Baekhyun feels for the other swells more with every story that he hears. On top of that, the next occasion he sees Junmyeon he looks much better, excitedly informing Baekhyun that Yixing was indeed willing to talk to him. For the first time in a long while, everything is looking up for Baekhyun, giving him a surge of confidence. The questions he asks Chanyeol become bolder. He’s starting to get to know him on a deeper level. 

Falling in love is an unfortunate side effect in this situation. The times Baekhyun has been in love have been rare. There have been some pretty faces and nights spent exploring miles of skin, which hadn’t led to anything. Finding someone to fall in love with was not something he expected walking into prison, yet here he is, listening to Chanyeol’s admittedly uninteresting story about his pet ferret. Why? Because it’s Chanyeol telling the story, anyone else and he would have zoned out immediately. Not only his beauty is absolutely captivating, but his passion, honesty, kindness and all other aspects of his personality as well. 

“So you’re telling me that one of your saddest memories is your pet ferret running away?” 

“Yes, I know it doesn’t sound like much but I’ve lived a very sheltered life before this,” Chanyeol argues, “Besides, that ferret was the one of the only ones showing me any kind of affection.” 

Baekhyun eyebrows shoot up at the revelation. “Damn, that sounds even worse than my childhood. No parent ever hugged you or something?” 

“No, they were too busy, I rarely saw them. And teachers as well as nannies are not allowed to hug children that aren’t their own, so yeah.” Simply providing your child an education and a roof above their head doesn’t make a good parent. The somber look on Chanyeol’s face tells Baekhyun how hard it must have been for such a young child to not receive any affection. In Baekhyun’s humble opinion, past mistakes like that can always be fixed in the present. So he spreads his arms and develops Chanyeol in a tight embrace. The taller man noticeable stiffens but doesn’t try to pull away. 

“Baekhyun, any physical contact with the inmates is forbidden.” And yet Chanyeol doesn’t make a move to escape his grasp, his tone sounds like he’s reading it from an instruction manual. 

“What you’ve done over the past few weeks also isn’t exactly legal, so a hug won’t kill you. Come on, you need to catch up on a lot of missed affection.” Baekhyun coaxes, craning his neck to take a good look at the man in his embrace. It takes a bit of inner turmoil before strong arms encircle his waist. The way Chanyeol hugs is absolutely adorable, draping his entire upper body over Baekhyun’s and laying his head in the juncture where his neck meets his shoulders. They breathe in unison, Baekhyun can feel Chanyeol’s rapid pulse and a waft of what he assumes is aftershave hits his nostrils. 

With that it feels like a lot of previous barriers have been crossed. Any time Chanyeol takes a seat next to Baekhyun on the bed, Baekhyun is all over him. From playing with his hair, laying his head on his shoulder, putting an arm around his waist, to draping his legs over Chanyeol’s. The other is never the one to initiate contact, but the content smile on his face is enough of an encouragement for Baekhyun to continue. 

This new development feels like both a win and a loss for Baekhyun. A win because it seems to brighten up Chanyeol’s day whenever the smaller man shows some spontaneous affection. On the other hand, Baekhyun is kind of torturing himself at this point. His touches always remain platonic, it’s never enough. It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy it, but having to constantly keep himself from sliding his hand to more intimate places is taking its toll. It’s not like he can rub one out to relief himself of the frustration with the constant eyes on him. Five minutes in the shower is barely enough time to wash his hair, that option has been abandoned a long time ago. For now, he will have to live with it, which he realises isn’t all that bad once Chanyeol gently lays his head on top of his. 

 

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

“Hey, Chanyeol?” 

“Yeah?” 

“What does ‘perseverance’ mean?” 

Chanyeol cutely cocks his head. “It means not giving up, why?” 

“Aha, now it makes sense! Even within the context I couldn’t figure out its meaning.” He leans towards his bedside table to grab the book that he’s been occupying his time with and points out the offending sentence. The writer has quite the extensive vocabulary, which results in the frequent usage of long, difficult words. Chanyeol whispers something under his breath which sounds awfully familiar to “cute”, highly likely that it wasn’t meant to reach his ears.

“What’d you say?” 

Chanyeol looks like a deer caught in headlights and points at himself. “Me?” 

“No the other person in this room. Yes, you,” Baekhyun replies, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

“I didn’t say anything!” 

Deciding on humouring Chanyeol, Baekhyun lets it slide. He can cut the guy some slack from time to time. “I must be hearing things then.” 

 

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

One day, when Baekhyun steps out of the shower cubicle, he suddenly takes note of the length of his hair once it falls in front of his eyes. He runs his fingers through his freshly washed locks and tucks them behind his ears. The longest strands almost touch his shoulders, under normal circumstances he would never let his hair grow this long, but it isn’t like prison has a bunch hairdressers yearning to get their hands on him. 

“I need a haircut.” Baekhyun tells Chanyeol as if the other can magically conjure scissors out of thin air. 

“I can put you on the list for the hairdresser if you’d like.”

“A hairdresser list? Why didn’t I know about this?” 

“Sorry, that’s my fault. We’re supposed to inform you about it right from the beginning, but I forgot.” Chanyeol admits and starts to cower away. Not fast enough because Baekhyun still manages to get a solid hit on his shoulder. “Ouch, I said I was sorry! You only missed two monthly appointments. The next one is in a week or so, so you don’t have wait that long.” 

“I’ve been here for almost three months without a haircut? No wonder that my hair almost touches my shoulders.” Baekhyun concludes while tugging on his lengthy locks. Chanyeol shrugs and takes a jet black strand between his long fingers.

“I think you look fine, it grew out pretty evenly.” It isn’t that much of a compliment, but to Baekhyun it feels like he was just told he was the most beautiful man in the world. A familiar heat rises to his cheeks, no doubt making them even rosier than usual. Chanyeol doesn’t notice, completely captured by the locks of long, dark hair. 

A week later and Baekhyun finds himself in a small room obviously not built solely for getting haircuts. Several desks are moved to the side and the mirror in front of him isn’t attached to the wall. The only words he exchanged with the hairdresser is what kind of length he wanted his hair to be, he shouldn’t have expected they have an in depth discussion about what kind of style he prefers. The only thing breaking the silence are the sounds of scissors snipping off most of his long locks. It doesn’t escape Baekhyun that Chanyeol occasionally sneaks in a short glance from his position by the door, which the inmate only notices because he is unabashedly staring at the tall figure. When he finally focuses his gaze on his own face in the mirror, he almost doesn’t recognize himself. Gone are the hollow cheeks, heavy eye bags and chapped lips. He’s positive that he hasn’t looked this healthy in his life. His eyes trail downwards, taking in the sight of a much broader chest, straining the fabric of his jumpsuit when he takes a particularly deep breath. He should really ask for a bigger size, which gives him a weird swell of pride. 

The days spent in the gym, the three admittedly healthy meals he gets a day have had an impeccable impact on his appearance. Never in his life did he expect he would look better after a few months in prison that he had before. He thought prisoners would be tortured, left to rot in their own filth without anyone looking out for them. But the healthy looking young man staring back at him through the glass of the mirror tells him otherwise. 

The hairdresser seems to be a well trained professional, because he gives Baekhyun a haircut that compliments his features quite well. His hair has been parted on the right side, the length on the crown of his head shorter than the locks gracing the side of his forehead, giving it some extra volume. The sides have been trimmed, completely transforming his hair from whatever it was before to very stylish looking. 

“What do you think?” Baekhyun asks once they are back in their usual position in the cell. 

“I like it. You can see more of your face, which is… nice.” Chanyeol adds after some hesitation. Which could mean that he meant to say something else, probably ‘earth shatteringly beautiful’. That, or he’s trying to be polite, but Baekhyun chooses to believe the former. Besides, Chanyeol’s eyes speak for themselves, and they aren’t saying anything negative. 

Having had a mirror in front of him again and seeing the changes in his appearance make some wheels turn in Baekhyun’s head. When he first arrived in a clean cell it already struck him as strange, but things just keep adding up. Aside from the rule that you can’t talk to the guards they are treated as guest rather than prisoners more often than not. Everything is clean, the meals are of high quality, they have a gym to themselves, daily showers, their own custom fitted jump suits and a whole slew of things most low class workers wouldn’t even dare to dream of. It was one of the first questions he asked Chanyeol, one which he has yet to answer.

“You never answered my question about the state of this place. Why is everything so clean, why do we have all kinds of privileges when we are seen as enemies of the crown?” 

Chanyeol lifts his shoulders. “I don’t know, but I do have a theory as to why.” 

That certainly piques Baekhyun’s interest, who changes his position so he can sit fully upright. “Pray tell.” 

“So the woman who runs this prison is the mother of one of my friends who helped me get the photos. She used to be a King’s guard, just like my father. But where arresting poor, malnourished workers made my father resent them, I think Jongin’s mother started to sympathise with them. Maybe she wanted to make a change, but didn’t know how. So instead of retiring she decided to change things from the inside out by becoming the head of the prison to which most of these workers were sent. I mean, she can pretty much make all the rules by herself, there are only a handful of guidelines which she has to follow. At least, that’s what I think and maybe hope happened.” Judging from Chanyeol’s story, it’s obvious that the guy sees the best in people. Though Baekhyun must admit that if this woman absolutely hates low class workers the prison probably would look a lot different. The King and his counsel don’t care about them when they’re working, why would they once they’re in prison, it has to be mostly her doing then. 

“I hope so too. Maybe she can even join your revolution.” 

“Maybe, but I don’t know her well enough to make such a dangerous assumption. If I’m wrong, it could ruin our lives. Taking and spreading photographic material from anything inside the walls is strictly forbidden, more so because we’re not allowed to go inside.” 

“It’s a risk, that’s true. But I think she’ll be a powerful and useful addition to your team. Why don’t you ask her son to see if she’s up for it?” 

There is a beat of silence before Chanyeol answers, he’s probably weighing his options. “I could ask Jongin,” he starts carefully. “I don’t want to put him in any unnecessary danger.” 

“Understandable, he’s your friend. But I don’t think your picture mission was that safe either.” 

“Valid point, but at least I was there with him. I don’t think I can accompany him this time.” 

“True, but it’s his own mother. She doesn’t really sound like someone that would betray her own blood, who would do so?” Baekhyun shrugs. He doesn’t want to throw this ‘Jongin’ guy to the wolves but it’s not like he’s attempting to persuade the King himself. Chanyeol is still hesitant, maybe he feels protective over this ‘friend’. Baekhyun surprises himself with the direction this train of thought is heading towards. This isn’t the time to let unnecessary jealousy cloud his judgement. 

“I’ve heard some stories, but those could be exaggerated. It’s worth a try.”

 

After Chanyeol has taken his leave, the realisation that he never asked Chanyeol any follow up questions about his early years hits him. Baekhyun makes a mental note to ask about it next time, alongside some of his more daring questions. Those are filed under the ‘once he’s desperate enough’ category. At this rate, that likely won’t take long. Now however, is not the time, he wants to know everything about the young, fresh faced Chanyeol there is to know. Curiosity about a youth so different from his filled his thoughts with what ifs and how Chanyeol would be in class, constantly shifting in his chair, his ears poking out underneath his well-kept haircut. 

“What was your childhood like, I forgot to ask you about it,” is the first thing Baekhyun says once Chanyeol has entered his cell. The guard outright laughs, which leaves him to wonder what’s so funny about his question.

“You’ve been thinking about that for the past couple of days, haven’t you? You almost jumped out of your cell when you saw me.” 

Baekhyun pouts and pokes Chanyeol in his ribs. He didn’t expect Chanyeol to start wildly flailing his long limbs around before ultimately falling to the floor. The tall guard grunts dramatically and Baekhyun swears he’s never laughed this hard in his life. Tears are streaming from his eyes, blurring his vision in the process. Once he’s done he has to haul a still whining Chanyeol up on the bed. 

Baekhyun smirks at him and pretends to poke him again, at which Chanyeol flinches. “Please don’t ever do that again. I thought you wanted to talk, not injure me,” he whines, rubbing the sore spot.

“Sorry, go ahead. Start from the beginning, as much as you can remember from your youth.” 

The way Chanyeol describes his early memories feels as if Baekhyun is there, standing alongside him. He can see a barely two year old, chubby cheeked Chanyeol being sent off to school by his nanny. From there on out, it’s disappointment after disappointment, being constantly told off by strict teachers who supposedly only want the best for him. His ideas were being shut down one after one, from him wanting to play with the low class children during King’s Day to being told that pursuing music wouldn’t result in a career. Where Baekhyun had all the freedom he wanted as a child without much resources, Chanyeol’s youth was the other way around. He could get all the clothes and toys he wanted, yet there were all these barriers put around him. No parents to rely on, only a nanny who left him to his own devices more often than not. It surprises Baekhyun that throughout these kind of life experiences, Chanyeol has turned out to be such an outstanding person. 

“How you didn’t come to resent us workers still amazes me. Especially after all you’ve been through, everybody telling you not to interact with us,” Baekhyun wonders out loud. 

“I was never told that you were scum or something, I just wasn’t allowed to talk to you. Yes, everybody notices that the workers look a bit rough around the edges during King’s Day, but you never caused any trouble. It was mostly drunk businessman who are allowed to let loose for once.”

A bunch of his friends have told him about what goes on King’s Day a long while ago, when they were innocent to still believe it was purely a day of celebration. If he recalls their stories correctly, there weren’t any clashes between them and people from the upper class. They were mostly being ignored. 

“Thank you for telling me more about you, Chanyeol. We’re already becoming such great friends, don’t you think?” 

“Of course.” 

Friendship, it’s something and Baekhyun will take it. At least Chanyeol didn’t start with his ‘Stockholm syndrome’ nonsense again. How does one seduce a guard into more than friendly relations? Maybe he needs to ease Chanyeol into it. Start slowly, testing the waters first. Baekhyun would rather jump his bones and have it be over with, but that will likely scare the other off. He’ll wait for now.


	6. Chapter 6

Once again the pair finds themselves sitting closely on Baekhyun’s bed, the morning sunrays shining through the narrow window. To Baekhyun this is some sign from above that he should stop cowering and go for it. His hair is still slightly damp from a shower, tiny droplets dripping on the material of Chanyeol’s uniform. 

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun lifts his head so he can have a clear view of the man’s face, his big, almond shaped eyes now focussed on him.

“Yeah?” 

“Are you single?” That admittedly out of the blue question earns him a confused gaze from Chanyeol. Maybe it wasn’t as subtle as Baekhyun had hoped, but subtlety has never been his strong suit. 

“Yes, why?” 

Baekhyun shrugs, trying his best to come off as nonchalant, which couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality he is a desperate man that hasn’t been able to masturbate for God knows how long. And next to him sits a temptation so sweet he’s almost aching for it. 

“I’m just trying to make some small talk. In case you’re wondering, I’m single too.” 

“Okay.” 

Baekhyun can feel Chanyeol beginning to shift, perhaps trying to make an escape. Not wanting the other to leave, the smaller man swings his legs over Chanyeol’s, essentially trapping him. 

“Baekhyun.” Chanyeol speaks his name like it’s a warning that he’s treading on dangerous territory. Which he is, he’s so close he feel the heat radiating of Chanyeol’s skin. So close that he can hear him swallow.

“Since we’re becoming such great friends, you should tell me about the time you lost your virginity,” Baekhyun all but demands while innocently blinking up at the shocked guard. The other doesn’t appear to be very comfortable, but he has yet to voice any protest. If that were the case, Baekhyun would halt his advances, now he just needs to push Chanyeol past his awkwardness. 

“What?!” 

“Come on, tell me. I won’t laugh, I promise.” 

“That’s not the- you know what, why don’t you start?” That came unexpected, so much so, that he promptly forgets every sexual experience he’s ever had. 

“Uhm,” utters Baekhyun dumbly.

“I won’t laugh, I promise.” Chanyeol cheekily recites back the words Baekhyun spoke to him earlier. Well, there is no turning back now.

He had been eyeing one of the young women during the Underground Resistance meetings, hoping he’s come off seductive rather than creepy. She was beautiful, with long, wavy hair, full lips, hazel eyes and a positive attitude. Somehow, Baekhyun advances worked despite their meetings to oppose a tyrant not being a particular romantic setting. Once the meeting came to a close, she invited him over to her place. Baekhyun remembers being a nervous wreck and almost bolted as she open the front door. It seemed like he had picked the right person, because she took note of him being slightly uneasy and guided him through the entire process. She told him what she enjoyed the most and didn’t come off as if she was belittling him for being clueless about sex in general. 

The warmth in the small room had been almost unbearable, even more so once their fleeting touches started getting more urgent. When he entered the heat between her legs it became evident to him that maybe this wasn’t what he was looking for after all. She was kind and he was grateful for the way which she had treated him, but it felt like something was missing. After coming down from his high, he stayed for a cup of tea but declined her offer to join her in bed once again. She nodded in understanding and he can still remember her parting words very well. “Maybe a woman isn’t what you’re looking for.” 

“Must kind of suck for her that you find out you’re gay because of sleeping with her.” 

“Yeah, it kind of does. But we ended up becoming friends after that so it wasn’t that bad.” Or so Baekhyun hopes, they talked a lot but that night hadn’t been brought up in a conversation once. 

Chanyeol appears to be a lot calmer than at the beginning of their conversation, so Baekhyun decides to see how far he can go. He removes his legs and lets his nimble fingers wander towards the inner part of Chanyeol’s thigh. The look on his face is priceless, his cheeks are turning a delightful shade of pink and doesn’t dare to look Baekhyun in the eye. 

“Your turn, Chanyeol,” says Baekhyun, his tone dripping with honey. 

Baekhyun only vaguely registers Chanyeol’s words, his own heart beat is too loud to understand everything. He is already imagining all the things the tall guard will do to him whilst moving his hand closer to a more intimate area. In a swift and sudden motion, his hands are cuffed to the bedpost. No longer are the two side by side on the bed, Chanyeol is situated on his lap with his legs on either side of Baekhyun’s. Years of training must have thought Chanyeol how to pull off an incredible move like that. 

“Inmates aren’t allowed to touch the guards,” Chanyeol tuts and for a second Baekhyun thinks he’s done for, but the other continues. “However, guards are allowed to touch the inmates.” Baekhyun can feel the Chanyeol’s breath ghosting over his lips when he utters that sentence. Never in his life would he have expected to feel a spark of arousal when the metal cuffs slightly strain his skin, leaving Chanyeol in total control. There is still some room for movement, which he uses to crane his neck, bringing their faces as close as possible without having any contact. Closing the distance between them, Baekhyun finally gets a taste of those plump lips. He nudges Chanyeol’s bottom lip with his teeth, at which he gasps, presenting him with an opportunity to deepen the kiss. Baekhyun takes it upon himself to get himself familiar with every corner of Chanyeol’s mouth, sliding his tongue against the velvety walls. 

Hands roam his body, pinching and prodding and as much as he would like to do the same in return, he can’t. The rattling of the cuffs every time he wants to move his hands seems to taunt him. Chanyeol manages to detach their lips and affectionally strokes the side of his face, letting his long fingers linger on Baekhyun’s slender neck.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you feel good,” he whispers as a form of consolation. Baekhyun doesn’t doubt him in the slightest, his mind is clouded with needy lust. The weight on his lap is gone suddenly and he watches as Chanyeol reaches for the zipper of his jumpsuit.

“Wait,” he exclaims and the other man halts his movements. “Can you take the oil out of my back pocket first?” 

Chanyeol does as he is asked without questioning the fact that he stole the bottle from the prison showers. He has been anticipating something like this for a while, no way that they’re intimate moment was going to be ruined by not having any oil present. In seconds, his hands are on Baekhyun again, impatiently tugging on his jumpsuit. He lifts his hips so Chanyeol can take it off as far as possible with the obstruction of the cuffs. It leaves Baekhyun in nothing but the simple, black boxers the prison provides the inmates with. 

“Yours too.” Baekhyun demands, not liking the amount of fabric his view of the guards assumable well trained body. Arousel swirls in his gut at the sight of the man in front of him. The view of that beautifully sculpted chest is soon obstructed by Chanyeol himself, who ducks down and scrapes his teeth along the sensitive skin of Baekhyun’s neck. Slowly, painfully slowly, he makes his way downwards, only satisfied once Baekhyun’s chest is decorated with a constellation of love bites. 

Controlling his expression is the last thing he thinks about in moments like this, so when Chanyeol whispers, “You’re so beautiful, Baekhyun,” from above him, it comes at a surprise. Too wrapped up in pleasure, he answers by grinding up towards Chanyeol, moans spilling past his lips at the delicious friction. Together, their hips find a suitable rhythm, the flimsy material of their undergarments being the only thing that separates them. One of Chanyeol’s hands lands on his hips and holds on tight, while the other roams around his upper body. A blunt nail scratches his nipple, making Baekhyun groan in delight. He loves it when guys don’t just cut to the chase. 

“Kiss me again.” Baekhyun urges Chanyeol and puckers his lips. The guard complies and slots their mouths together in a heated lip lock. Their hips slow down to a halt, all their effort is put into sensually kissing each other. The hands previously exploring his upper body slides down his back and firmly grabs his cheeks. Fuck, that feels good. He must have accidently said it out loud, because Chanyeol does it again, this time sliding his hands under the material of his boxers to squeeze his bare skin. Finally, Chanyeol hooks his fingers around the elastic band of Baekhyun’s pants and slides them down, taking off his own too. Pressing their lips together in a fleeting kiss, Chanyeol moves over to grab the oil he discarder earlier. 

To show the other that he’s ready, Baekhyun spread his legs to make more room, giving his all to Chanyeol. He offers Baekhyun a small mile before raking his nails across the skin of his inner thighs. It’s as if Chanyeol knows what riles him up the most. Just from his teasing and steamy kisses his cock almost at its full hardness. One look to the man hovering above him proves that Chanyeol is no better off, yet he continues to dance around his most intimate area. Now he’s moved on to kissing his hipbones, occasionally sinking in his teeth. Baekhyun hisses at the sensation, the slight sting of pain making his toes curl. 

Long fingers teasingly graze his hardened length before giving it a few fleeting strokes. The sound of Chanyeol screwing open the lid of the bottle of oil gets Baekhyun excited in anticipation of what’s to come. The breach of the first finger past the tight ring of muscles is pretty painful, but Chanyeol diverts his attention almost immediately by keeping their mouths busy. Their tongues slide together while his walls are being massaged open. A second finger slides in, stretching his hole even more, giving Baekhyun a little taste of the fullness he enjoys feeling when he bottoms. The two digits are prodding his insides, reaching further than Baekhyun himself ever could. He almost weeps when Chanyeol curls up his fingers and hits his prostate head on. It makes the stretch far more pleasant now his bundle of nerves is being stimulated. 

Once the third finger is in, Baekhyun is positively convinced that Chanyeol has been sent down from the heavens to make up for all the years of misery. The stretch he endures hurts in all the right ways. Chanyeol is watching him intensely, his expression a cross between pure hunger and something he could classify as fondness. Not that he trusts himself with forming any coherent thought now that he’s currently drooling on the pillow from the delicious feeling of three fingers sliding in and out of him. There is sudden emptiness, before he can utter any protest, soft lips capture his own. 

“You’re so amazing Baekhyun. I’m gonna fuck you now and make good on my promise.” 

“Yes, yes, yes.” He pleads, sounding like a broken record. Chanyeol smears a considerable amount of oil on his member and slowly inches in, placing his hands on Baekhyun’s hips as leverage. His mouth falls open in a silent scream at the feeling of being filled to the brim. He hooks his ankles around Chanyeol’s back, urging him to get a move on. Their bodies are almost completely touching, slick, sweaty skin sliding together in harmony. Deep moans fill the room, harmonizing with Baekhyun’s higher pitched ones as they move together in their own rhythm. With every sharp snap of Chanyeol’s slim hips he can feel the heat pool in the lower part of his abdomen. 

There is something so exciting about being at the mercy of Chanyeol, cuffed up against the bed post. His hands are aching, but it’s the least of his worries now that Chanyeol expertly thrusts up right against his most sensitive spot. Everything feels amazing, he’s so wrapped up in pleasure that everything besides Chanyeol fades. Gone are his worries, woes and pains. 

Baekhyun clenches his walls, earning a groan from Chanyeol. “I’m close,” he breathes not far from Baekhyun’s ear. 

“Me too, touch me,” Baekhyun responds, impressed with his own ability to still form a proper sentence. At the same time Chanyeol thrusts are starting to become faster and less controlled, he makes sure to honour Baekhyun’s request and wraps his long fingers around his painfully hard member. Any proper rhythm has completely disappeared, the both of them have become a sweaty mess. Not long after, Chanyeol halts his movements completely, his eyes going to the back of his head as he releases himself inside of Baekhyun. It takes only a few pumps before Baekhyun sees stars, his whole body shuddering with the intensity of his orgasm. 

Reality comes crashing down once the cuffs around his wrists are released and Chanyeol ungraciously lets himself fall on the bed next to him. This is what he’s been after ever since he started innocently flirting with the guard lying beside him. The experience itself was nothing short of amazing and he certainly hopes it doesn’t have to be a one time thing. But Baekhyun finds himself realising that’s all they’ll ever have, these intimate moments. He may call Chanyeol a friend, but they can’t have a normal relationship behind bars. How he wishes that they met under more magical circumstances like all the couples in the fantasy books he reads seem to do. 

With a heavy heart, he bids Chanyeol goodbye, still contemplating whether or not he should inform him about his troubles. The guard is probably too preoccupied with his mission to change to world to worry about Baekhyun’s minor problems. Not a visit goes by without him being impressed by what progress Chanyeol made. The circle of people wanting to help him seems to only expend by an increasing rate, but somehow he’s never mentioned the woman that leads the prison again. As much as Baekhyun wants to tear Chanyeol’s clothes the second he sees him shuffle through the door, he still pressures himself to voice his question. 

“So… how are things going with this Jongin dude and his mother? Any progress?” 

“About that, Jongin is too afraid to do it himself, so he asked Yixing to accompany him. They have an appointment at her office as we speak.” Chanyeol nervously twiddles this thumbs. It must be nerve wrecking for him to not be with them. Baekhyun reaches out to the other man and begins rubbing circles on his tense back. 

“They’re going to be fine, if they’re friends of yours I’ll trust them to do a great job and I don’t even know them,” He offers in an attempt to ease the other’s nerves. 

“You’re right, it’s probably going to be just fine, but I keep thinking about all sorts of doom scenarios. Perhaps you can take my mind of it?” 

The idea is great, nothing is a better distraction than sex. Baekhyun is somehow completely surprised that Chanyeol would be up for another round. Don’t get him wrong, he’s absolutely stoked about the fact, but a man like him could find anyone he wants out there in the free world. Yet he chooses Baekhyun. 

“Baekhyun?” 

“Yes of course!” he quickly replies, not wanting to give Chanyeol the wrong idea. “But why me though?” 

Immediately after he uttered those last pitiful words, Baekhyun regrets it. Behind bars isn’t exactly the time and the place to talk about your many insecurities. At least Chanyeol appears to be less tense than he was before. 

“Listen to me, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol voice is soft and he wraps himself around Baekhyun’s body like a comforting blanket. “Not only did I thoroughly enjoy our… activities, you are one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met. You’re funny, caring, so selfless and incredibly dedicated. Why wouldn’t it be you?”

For the first time in his life, Byun Baekhyun doesn’t know what to say. His heart feels like it’s about to burst, especially now that Chanyeol offers him a beautiful smile after already swiping him off his feet with his words. There is nothing Baekhyun can do besides bury his head in Chanyeol’s chest and clinging to him as if he might disappear at any given moment. Eventually Baekhyun finds the courage to lift his head and mutter something along the lines of “You’re amazing too.” At which Chanyeol laughs softly and kisses the top of his head. 

For a second he wishes that they could stay like this forever, embracing each other. Nothing else matters, their pasts, their status, whatever may happen in the future, but good things can only last so long. And Baekhyun remembers Chanyeol insinuating that he wants to have sex again, something which he definitely shouldn’t pass on. He lets his hands wander to the collar of the guard’s uniform and starts popping open the buttons one by one. 

“Why aren’t you naked yet?” asks Baekhyun, sounding like Chanyeol has personally insulted him by wearing clothes.

“I thought we were having a moment,” Chanyeol responds in a playful tone. 

“We were, but now we’re having a sexy moment. I’m offering you the distraction you asked for, aren’t you glad?” 

“I’m very glad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally smashed ;)


	7. Chapter 7

Chanyeol’s words have made quite an impact on Baekhyun. Was it an attempt to court him or is it just another example of the other’s kindness? That question has completely occupied his mind in the last couple of days. The story line of the novel currently in front of him totally flown past him. Holding the book in front of his face is more a formality at this point, he’s not even properly reading it. All he can do is imagine a world where he and Chanyeol would have met under different circumstances. They would disgust all their mutual friend with their amount of affection, live a perfect and domestic life. Maybe they would move to a small yet lively town and get a couple of kids, grow old together. Only a complete change of the way their current society is built would allow for that to happen. Which even if Chanyeol succeeds, will take an enormous amount of time. 

He lets his eyes glide over to Chanyeol, who’s currently already looking at him. “You should really go to the gym today.” 

“Excuse me? Are you calling me fat?” 

Chanyeol is quick to deny the accusation, the tip of his ears turning bright red. “God no! It’s just that Yixing told me Junmyeon is also working out today.” 

“Well if that’s the case, lead the way.” 

Upon arriving Baekhyun immediately understands why the taller man insisted on him paying a visit to the gym. Not only Junmyeon is present, but an additional big chunk of the other Underground Resistance members accompanied by their guards are spread across the room. They all greet him cheerfully, patting him on the back or shaking his hand just as they used to did at the beginning of their previous meetings. It’s as if only a few days have passed, but it feels like it has been years at the same time. Most of the members’ appearance has changed drastically, similar to Baekhyun’s. They look healthier and well groomed. Chanyeol directs his attention towards the other side of the room by pointing his finger towards one of the guards. The guy is constantly shifting his weight from one foot to another in a manner that makes him look nervous. 

“That’s Jongin, in case you were wondering.” Great, the bloke looks drop dead gorgeous, no wonder Chanyeol is so protective over him. People would die for someone with a face like that. A guard he recognises as Yixing is busy rubbing his back and whispers something in his ear, at which some of the tension leaves his face. Baekhyun has no idea what’s he so concerned about, but then again he doesn’t know what’s about to happen. 

Shortly after introducing Jongin to him, Chanyeol leaves his side and goes to stand in the middle of the room. “As all of you can see there is not going to be a lot of working out today. Instead we brought you here because we want to join forces. As most of you presumably already know, I alongside a number of my trusted acquaintances want to make the public aware of the horrible way workers are being treated by the government. To do this, however, we’re going to need some support from the workers themselves. Is there perhaps a chapter of the Underground Resistance that’s still active? Or do any of you have any other useful connections?” 

There is an eruption of noise, everybody wanting to voice their ideas at the same time. Baekhyun has had more of his fair share of unruly meetings, he’s used to the unorganised mess. The same can’t be said for Chanyeol, his irritation easily detectable on his face. His bouldering voice fills the room in an effort to regain order. 

“We can’t have a proper discussion if everybody is shouting all at once. Raise your hand if you have any information about the active Underground Resistance chapters.” Several hands shoot up in the air and everybody silently agrees to Chanyeol leading the meeting, waiting to speak until the latter gives them a turn. 

One of the younger members of the Resistance eventually gets a turn to speak, Baekhyun gives her no more than 17 years and that’s him being generous. It’s not because of her appearance, but mainly based on her stance on most things. She’s still full of hope and extremely naïve when it comes to executing over the top plans. Still, he’s curious to hear her input. 

“A friend of mine joined one of the few still active chapters of the Resistance around the same time I joined this one. Their meetings often take place in one of the abandoned buildings close to the walls.” 

Before Baekhyun knows it, he blurts out a firm “No,” and suddenly all eyes are on him. He knows more than well which chapter she is talking about, it’s one of the more radical ones. It’s rumoured that their ideology is to kill anyone that isn’t a low class worker as a solution to their problems. Big chance that they are unaware that the upper class lives in ignorance about the working class. Not a hair on his head that thinks about letting Chanyeol anywhere near those people. Though they are fighting for a good cause, the way they go about it is absolutely wrong. 

“Sending our prison guard acquaintances to them equals to giving them a death sentence. I’m familiar with the likes of that Resistance chapter and they don’t take kindly to any upper class people. With them it’s shoot first ask questions later. There has to be another way.” A low murmur spreads across the room as soon as Baekhyun is done talking. Not everybody is in agreement with his statement, but what Chanyeol and his friend are doing is already dangerous enough without the addition of murderous workers. 

Someone on Baekhyun’s left is done waiting to speak and starts shouting. His face is twisted in anger as he spits out poisonous words. “What a bunch of pansy bullshit! Countless of lives have been lost because of those rich bastards not sticking out a single finger for us and you want to defend their useless lives?” 

Unfortunately, Baekhyun alongside the other Resistance members are familiar to these kind of disgusting statements from Jay. His behaviour towards Junmyeon has also been outright disrespectful from the start, without even knowing anything about the man besides his financial status. Seeing Chanyeol’s saddened expression fuels his anger and he starts marching towards Jay until he’s right in front of his face. 

“Why can’t you just think before you spout some useless nonsense, you fucking asshole! If the prison guards were to be killed by those idiots running that radical Resistance chapter than we’d have no help from the outside. You’d be left to rot away in your cell for the rest of your pathetic life. Is that what you want, huh, Jay?” The other doesn’t answer and chooses to stare him down instead. “That’s what I fucking thought!” Baekhyun spits and retreats back to his spot, satisfied that he managed to shut that guy up. A few muffled giggles can be heard, it’s safe to say that Jay isn’t well liked. Chanyeol tries to give him a discreet thumbs up while Junmyeon gives him an encouraging nod. 

“Permission to speak, Chanyeol?” The latter asks. 

“Sure, go ahead.” 

“There might be another way to speed up the process and get some widespread support. I know someone who works at the Royal Paper and still owes me a favour. You can ask him to publish the photos Chanyeol took. I’m sure he’ll do it if you mention you’re a friend of mine, it’s sure to reach a sizable audience.” 

“That’s amazing, that will surely cause an uproar!” Won’t your friend get in trouble though?” It’s the first time a guard besides Chanyeol has spoken up. It’s Yixing, who’s currently standing next to Jongin and closely behind Junmyeon.

The latter cranes his neck to look at the soft spoken guard and shrugs. “What’s a little trouble in exchange of changing a few hundred thousand lives for the better?” That statement earns him a fist bump from Yixing, who also doesn’t seem to mind throwing one of his fellow upper class members under the bus. Which Baekhyun can understand. The world would be better off without some of the workers, who steal from their equally poor colleagues to make ends meet. 

The vibe inside the gym has changed from tense to more jittery. People must be overjoyed at the prospect of something bigger that is to come. The time of only workers fighting for their rights might be over. Joining forces with people in higher places outraged at the sight of the photo’s will surely bring along success. 

Shortly after, their meeting is cut short by one of the guards mentioning the fact that they’ve been in the gym for over two hours, which will surely arouse some suspicion. One by one, the guards escort the inmates back to their cells. Baekhyun hugs Junmyeon goodbye before taking his leave as well. 

“You’ll tell me when the photos get published, right?” He asks Chanyeol once he closed the heavy steel door of his prison cell.

“You’ll be the first to hear it.” 

“And how did things go with Jongin’s mother?” 

“Right, I never told you. She actually told Yixing and Jongin that the prison was designed to make it as comfortable as possible for inmates within the rules made by the King. So she’s actually happy about the current movement going on and definitely wants to join!” 

“That’s wonderful, it’s all going so well!” Baekhyun yells maybe a tad too loud, but he can’t find it within himself to care. Hearing that they have the support of the woman who leads the prison makes him hopeful. He leaps up from his sitting position into Chanyeol’s welcoming arms. The tall guards laughs with him and pulls Baekhyun even closer. 

“Thank you, Chanyeol.” 

“Thank Jongin and Yixing, they did all the work on this one, not me.” 

“I meant thank you for everything you’ve done. You started this. Don’t sell yourself so short!” Baekhyun insist and pokes a finger against Chanyeol’s firm chest, hoping to get his point across the best he can. 

“It’s all because of you, Baekhyun. You were the one that stayed determined and told me your story. The movement currently going on wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for you.” 

A pleasant warmth spreads through Baekhyun’s chest, catching himself getting sentimental over Chanyeol’s words yet again. He can’t help it when there is so much feeling behind them. The position they’re currently in is similar to the one they found themselves in a couple of days ago, when Chanyeol had complimented him so wonderfully. The thought alone makes Baekhyun’s cheeks colour a deep red colour, and to think that the only thing he replied was that the other was ‘amazing’. 

“That might be true, but you’re the one that pulled through and made it happened. Takes a lot of bravery and perseverance.” 

The corners of Chanyeol’s lip curl up in a wide smile, revealing a row of pearly white teeth. Naturally, Baekhyun smiles too. 

“Baekhyun?” 

“Hmm?” 

“The other day, what I said to you, I meant it. You are truly something else. To me, you are so much more than just another inmate.” Hearing that Chanyeol thinks this way about him is both a relief and a curse. He can’t possibly offer the man any normality. 

“You know we can never have normal relationship, right? We can’t just go live together and live out our lives in peace. Even if we successfully change the way our society works, there will remain al lot of stigma around someone of higher class engaging in a relationship with a worker. From both sides. You deserve something much better.” 

“It’s all going to be more than worth it if I get to be with you, Baekhyun. You always talk so low of yourself, but you should realise that anyone is blessed to have you.” It sounds like something Baekhyun would read in the more cliché fantasy books and roll his eyes at. Coming from Chanyeol’s mouth, it’s possibly the best thing he’s ever heard. Who thought that being in love makes him sappy. He doesn’t mind, and Chanyeol doesn’t either, judging from his fond expression as Baekhyun practically melts in his arms. 

“Who knew you were such a sweet talker?” 

“I love giving praise almost as much as I love receiving it.” 

“Maybe I should give you compliments more often then.” He definitely should, making a mental note of the fact that Chanyeol deserves much more appreciation than he’s currently giving him. What a truly wonderful man he is, Baekhyun should hold onto him for as long as possible. 

 

True to his words, Baekhyun decides to compliment Chanyeol the next time he sees him. “There he is, my handsome Chanyeolie,” he pauses immediately after noticing how tense the tall guard looks. “Hey, what’s wrong?” 

“We need to go, come with me,” Chanyeol urges while holding open the door to his cell. It must be quite the unusual situation, even the usual cuffs aren’t adorning his wrist when that’s been the protocol since he entered the prison. 

“What’s going on?” 

He can barely keep up with Chanyeol, who’s taking big, hurried strides. Said man looks behind him and slows down his pace somewhat so they can walk alongside each other. “There has been massive outrage and protest after the picture was protested. It’s so bad that a massive group is planning on storming the walls separating them and the workers. At the moment that means that almost all King’s guards are deployed to disperse the protest and protect the wall. An ideal time for us to break out all the political prisoners.” 

“We’re getting out?” 

“Yes, and this is just the beginning. After we successfully complete this mission, we’ll have to go into hiding. It’s for certain that the King’s guard will come looking for us.” 

Next to them, he can see some familiar faces walking towards the exit. Junmyeon is busy conversing with Yixing, probably also asking for an explanation. After a while they find themselves in the middle of a stream of prisoners young and old making their way through the double doors towards the prison’s parking lot. Baekhyun even recognises one of his old neighbours that was arrested more than a decade ago and gives him a court nod. 

Though the display of inmates rejoicing at being outside the prison walls is heart-warming, there are still some questions that remain unanswered. “Wait, how did this even happen?” 

“Jongin’s mother pulled some strings, she’s also the one who got us a safe house.” They enter one of the prisoner vans parked in front of the entrance, which reminds him of the beginning of his awful journey to prison. At the thought he lets out an involuntary shudder, though the circumstances are much different this time. He’s seated in between Junmyeon and Chanyeol, the latter of which is keeping a close eye on him. Through the opened doors of the van Baekhyun can see the massive prison building for what might be the last time. He hadn’t expected someone inside those depressing grey walls would change his life in such a positive way. After spending who knows how long there, he had gotten used to the same schedule every day and the certainty that came with it. Before, he’d always had to worry if there would be enough money to eat, but inside the prison three meals were a daily guarantee. Now that he thinks about it, he might miss the place. 

“Are you okay?” Chanyeol brings their faces close together to make sure that even in the van full of people they can have a somewhat private conversation. 

“Yes, I’m fine. So this safe house, do we need to go there immediately? Can’t I say goodbye to my family?” 

“I’m sorry, Baekhyun, but it’s far too dangerous for you to go out there in these unruly times. It would be smarter to wait until everything has settled down a bit to pay your family a visit.” 

It saddens him that it will take a while for him to see his brother’s and parents’ faces again. He makes a promise to himself that he’ll fight until he doesn’t need to sneak inside a wall to visit them, whatever it takes. The image of his family still undergoing the harsh labour conditions that he managed to escape rekindles the fire within him. Like Chanyeol said, it’s just the beginning and he’s more than ready to fully devote himself to whatever tasks come next.

“I understand. What’s next once we reach the safehouse?” 

“We figured it would be best to involve all the Underground Resistance members in the discussion as to what we’re going to do next, so we’ll see once we reach the safehouse in one piece.” 

“Smart move, then we’ll all have some input on the matter. I do hope everything goes well so all of this won’t be for nothing.” 

Chanyeol intertwines their fingers and softly squeezes Baekhyun’s hand. “I understand that you’re worried, but the King’s guards have their hands full with the protesters at this moment, trust me. Also, Jongin’s mother wouldn’t just execute some half baked plans. The second she joined our team she’s been working on this prison outbreak.” 

Chanyeol puts some distance between them, leaving their personal bubble and raises his voice. “Everybody if you could please listen. I’m sure that most of you know by now that we are leaving the prison for good and transporting everyone to a safehouse,” Not a single soul in the bus makes a sound, which must mean that they’ve all been informed. “This journey is not without any risk, but I will assure you that we’ll do everything we can to keep you safe. We’re avoiding the more busy roads, which means that the drive to our final destination is going to take at least 50 minutes. Further plans will be discussed once we reach the safe house. Any questions?” 

Tucked behind Chanyeol’s tall form, a scrawny arm shoots up in the air. It’s the man with the young children. Where everyone else has a glint of hope in their eyes, his expression still screams worry and desperation. It also strikes Baekhyun that he’s the only one of the workers who hasn’t put on significant weight. Poor guy, he already know what he’s going to ask, it won’t be pretty.

“Could we see our families first?” His voice is so small it’s barely audible. Chanyeol really feels for the guy, it shows on his face. Yet he has to deliver the bad news, no matter how much he might pity the man. 

“I’m sorry, it’s not safe.” 

The man sinks back down in his seat and casts his eyes towards the floor. “I understand,” he mutters. It pains Baekhyun to see him like that, but he won’t be of any use to his family dead. 

“If there are no more questions, we can leave the prison grounds.” Chanyeol walks towards the thick wall separating the drivers and the prisoners and gives it a few solid slaps. The engine starts rumbling seconds later, signalling the beginning of their journey. There are no windows in the prison van, which Baekhyun finds rather unfortunate. He has always been curious what their Kingdom looked like outside of the walls. Hopefully there will be plenty of time do that, with Chanyeol on his side. He must have seen far more of the world than he has, maybe he can show all his favourite places. 

Chanyeol retakes his seat next to Baekhyun and he thinks that maybe there is enough to look at during their drive despite the lack of windows. He automatically leans into Chanyeol, enjoying the felling of the tall, sturdy body pressed against his own. “We’ll get through this together, right?” Baekhyun whispers. 

“Together we’ll get through anything,” answers Chanyeol determined. This journey towards the safehouse is the beginning of a new chapter in their lives for the both of them. It won’t be easy and there will be big obstacles to overcome. And frankly, it scares Baekhyun a little. Lucky for him, Chanyeol will be by his side, experiencing it with him. They’re part of something much bigger, the start of a revolution that might change their Kingdom for the better. As their van speeds towards the destination, the first step towards a brighter future has already been taken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've almost reached the end. After this there will be one more chapter to nicely wrap up everything. Initially I planned on ending it here, but it seemed cruel to leave you as the readers with such a big open ending. I hope you all enjoyed reading the story so far and the final chapter will be uploaded in a short while!


	8. Chapter 8

It’s been two years, two whole years since Baekhyun last saw a glimpse of the inside of the prison. If working in the factory or being locked up was bad, living in a war torn country is absolutely soul-crushing. The King didn’t take kindly to the outrage following the photos from inside the walls being leaked. Protest from upper class citizens close to the wall were quickly shut down with the use of heavy weaponry. Numerous people laid down their lives that day and soon more were to follow by means of public execution. Even with that, protest didn’t stop. In the weeks following the initial outrage, the was almost no one left that publicly supported the King. Additionally, there was international outcry for him to step down from the throne.

With the entire King’s guard on his side to protect him, the King had no intention of giving up power any time soon. Every guard was summoned to leave their current position and travel to the capital, including the ones that had been retired for a period that didn’t exceed 5 years. Chanyeol became white as a sheet when he learned of the fact that his own father re-joined the King’s guard, because he knew what little chance of survival the aging man had. The sight of the capital’s streets filled with the blood of allies and foes mixed together has been imprinted on every ones minds. Once it became clear that the King wouldn’t step down, the fighting began. Forces opposing the Royals quickly rallied together, which included every single worker that had previously never seen the outside of the walls. 

Baekhyun, who never had been much of a fighter, suddenly had to learn where to aim his gun to guarantee a quick death. So would many people like him, ranging from teenagers to middle aged workers, anyone who was willing to join. The Resistance movement, which was now no longer underground, now had numbers far outweighing those of the King’s Guard. However, after several failed attempts to storm the capital, it became evident that numbers weren’t everything. Despite how horrible the King had treated his citizens over the years, there were a few other Kingdoms that offered him money, equipment and even soldiers in support. Which meant that the battle for the capital kept dragging on, passing its two year mark a few weeks ago. 

Days passed when it became clear the King’s support was not enough to keep the front line up. The loss on both sides is great. Baekhyun has seen so many people go that he’s starting to convince himself that maybe living a miserable life working in the factories would have been better than this. The stench of death hasn’t left his nose since the beginning of the civil war. Luckily he still has Chanyeol that he can hold on too. Sweet, emotional Chanyeol, who even after all the loss has tears left to cry for his fallen sisters and brothers. His face is a display of everything they went through in the course of the years. It’s covered in several scars and wounds still in the process of healing. Baekhyun himself is no doubt looking similar, but he can’t put up with seeing his face in the mirror.

However, there are the small victories which make the endless fighting all seem worth it. Because of the hatred most all citizens harbour for the King, rich and poor alike have united as equals. The amount of wealth one’s previously owned doesn’t matter anymore. It gives Baekhyun hope that when they defeat the King, a democracy can be set in his place where one person gets the same opportunities as the next. This idea is what keeps Baekhyun fighting with everything he’s got, with Chanyeol never wavering from his side. 

The Resistance has been gaining increasingly more ground over the past few weeks or so. Only the main palace in the capital remains as the last of the King’s territory. It’s an absolutely beautiful building, several stories high with marble pillars surrounding the grand front door. Tonight could be the end of the civil war, if their coupe of the palace succeeds. Though it isn’t his first mission, his nerves are starting to act up as the sun slowly sets behind the horizon. The houses in closest proximity to the palace are all occupied by Resistance members. Chanyeol and Baekhyun are in one of the luxurious rooms, preparing themselves for what’s hopefully the last battle of their lives. Chairs crafted with the finest details, a huge chandelier on the ceiling and gold-imbedded ornaments, it was more wealth than Baekhyun had even seen in his life. Even if the owners are not around, Baekhyun feels wrong to be touching anything in the room. Opting to stand on the wooden flooring, next to the embroidered carpet, was his safest bet while he strapped a gun holster to his belt. 

“How are you feeling?” Chanyeol asks while loading his pistol with bullets. 

“Ready to take down this monster once and for all,” answers Baekhyun determined. There is no use in letting Chanyeol know that he’s afraid he might not see the sun rise again, because that’s how he has been feeling for the last two years. They are in the group of Resistance members that actively fight, so fearing for their lives is nothing new. Most of the others busy themselves with planning, organising or trading, making sure that even during the fighting everybody had enough to eat. Positions that were a lot safer, but Baekhyun wanted to be in the frontlines. Because if he didn’t someone else had to. “And you, how are you?” 

“As great as ever because you’re still with me.” 

Baekhyun scoffs, he shouldn’t have expected anything different. “Cheesy.” Yet he still moves in to give his tall companion a quick peck on his lips. 

They talk this and that while continuing to prepare for the palace coupe. Once they’re done, they join the rest of their team in the living room downstairs. Both Junmyeon and Yixing are in their team as well, busy with only each other in the middle of a crowded kitchen. The war has brought them closer together, finding comfort in their shared misery. Yixing slowly peels off a blood soaked bandage previously placed on Junmyeon’s side and replaces it with a fresh one. The latter pouts and Yixing shakes his head before kissing the bandaged wound. After seeing the sweet interaction, Baekhyun can’t help but smile. He sincerely hopes that whatever they have now will last. He directs his attention from the couple of lovebirds to his own love. Because headsets are limited, only the captains of each team are equipped with them. Chanyeol places the headset over his pointy ears and tests if the microphone is working. 

According to the plan, the team Chanyeol and Baekhyun are in, better known as ‘team B’, are tasked with using explosives to blow up one of the side entrances of the palaces. Once the explosives have gone off, they’ll eliminate any remaining soldiers while making their way to the throne room. Before entering, they need to wait until all four teams have made way through their respective entrances. The remaining team, ‘team E’, will take care of the sharpshooters on the roof. On their first attempt to take hold of the palace, they had grossly underestimated the King and what is left of his council’s strategic thinking, and countless of Resistance members were wiped out by the snipers on the roof. Unlike the King, they learn from their mistakes and are fully prepared this time. 

“Team B, ready?!” Chanyeol shouts, which is answered by a resounding “Ai!” from the 40 or so team members. Together they make their way over to the southern palace entrance. Chanyeol signals them to halt and starts speaking into his microphone. 

“Team A, ready?” The device crackles for a while before a “Yes” can be heard through the static. The other teams follow suit and with that their mission has officially started. Carefully, four explosives are placed around the elegantly decorated door. The group retreats behind the bushes surrounding the palace. Someone behind Baekhyun is counting down until the explosives go off, still he jumps when the door is loudly blown out of its sockets. He swiftly grabs his gun out of its holster, moving towards the palace with the weapon in his outstretched hands. 

There are a few Resistance members in front of him, he isn’t the first one of their team to enter the palace. The long entry hall is covered by purple tapestries with the symbol of the crown woven into them. They carefully approach the corner which leads them further into the building. As soon as one of the team members turns the corner, bullets fly everywhere. The King’s guards must have heard the explosion and gathered in a place where they could ambush the intruders. It takes several people to drag the now lifeless body of the brave young woman back. Another woman takes off her jacket and drapes it over the body, promising that they’ll come back for her after they finish in between sniffles. 

Baekhyun is breaking his head over how they’re going to get past the soldiers when he remembers that he has a spare hand grenade on hand in case one didn’t explode. 

“Fall back,” he hisses and pushes himself to the front to prevent others from moving forward. He takes off the safety pin and throws it in the direction of the King’s guards. There is a beat of silence before bloodcurdling screams can be heard followed by an explosion. Their team moves towards the corner immediately after. Two soldiers that were positioned more towards the back are the only ones left alive. They’re both on the ground crawling towards their weapons until bullets pierce through their skulls. One comes from Baekhyun’s weapon, which he fired without second thought. When they first started fighting the King’s guards, he would lay awake the whole night thinking about the family of the person he just killed. They’re still people after all, even though they’ve chosen to rally behind a monster. He soon realised that those sleepless nights and guilt trips led to nothing but exhaustion and misery. Now he tries not to think about the individual person as he guns down enemy after enemy, trying to justify the action in his head as ‘it’s either them or me’.

Carefully as not to step in any blood, Baekhyun walks past the bodies on their way to find the throne room. One of his former advisors joined the Resistance once it became evident they were on the winning hand. Though the guy is obviously trying to save his own ass, he has provided the team with a lot of useful information about the lay-out of the massive palace. Apparently the King had gone as far as to place actual traps throughout the palace. Without the advisor’s help, they could have lost a lot of men. Chanyeol as well as a number of other physically strong team members have a bag full of weights to set off any traps they might encounter. In the distance, Baekhyun can hear the sound of another grenade going off, followed by muffled screaming, That should be team D, who were tasked with securing the entrance close to them. They must not be far behind. He hopes that Oh Sehun makes it through, because he has an important role to fill.

After making their way through endless halls filled with absurdly expensive decoration, Chanyeol orders them to halt. He starts rummaging through his backpack before pulling out whatever he had been searching for. It’s a linen sack filled with potatoes, or that’s what the writing says anyway. Food is scarce, so it could have been filled with something else heavy. Chanyeol throws the sack a few meters from the position they’re currently standing. Mere seconds later the part of the marble floor where the sack had landed falls down completely. Baekhyun gulps, quickly jumping over the gap without looking down. Some of the group members are more hesitant to follow. They have been moving as a strong unit up until now but Baekhyun can start to see some hesitance. To encourage the others to jump as well, he outstretches a hand and helps the first few people over the hole in the ground. Once everybody is on the other side they take a quick water break and continue the rest of their journey.

Throughout the palace they encounter some handful of Royal guards patrolling, but they’re usually shot before they can even react to their presence. There is a minor hiccup in the form of a stray bullet grazing Chanyeol’s upper arm. It looks to be merely a flesh wound, but Baekhyun insists on staying behind so he can properly bandage it. Yixing takes it upon himself to act as the leader of team B now that Chanyeol is wounded and urges the group to keep moving. Baekhyun drags Chanyeol in what appears to be a guest room and orders him to sit on the bed.

“Oh, who made you the captain?” Chanyeol jokes but at the same time does as he’s told, taking a seat in the middle of the massive bed. Looking at Chanyeol seated on the silk covers, in a room lit up by an enormous chandelier and decorated with golden patterns all over the wall makes Baekhyun think that this is what he deserves. Not being shot by a King’s soldier fighting for his life because the person that pays his salary ordered him to do so. 

“I did now the actual captain has sustained a major injury.” 

“Ah, yes of course. My arm is about to fall off.” Chanyeol dramatically grabs the place where the bullet grazed past. 

Baekhyun snorts involuntary at the dramatic display. Luckily, Chanyeol never lost his sense of humour, because sometimes making jokes about a dire situation is the only thing that can lighten the mood. He grabs the first aid kit out of Chanyeol’s backpack and starts with disinfecting the wound. Once it’s clean Baekhyun makes sure that it’s bandaged properly. As the cherry on top, he plants a quick kiss on Chanyeol’s upper arm. 

“I saw Yixing do that, he’s a doctor so that must mean it speeds up the healing process.” 

Chanyeol chuckles and pulls him in for a hug. “Yes, it must be good then. Thank you for patching me up.” 

Surrounded by Chanyeol’s warmth and breathing in his familiar scent makes Baekhyun realise that Chanyeol has been his rock throughout everything. Every night that he wakes up from vivid nightmares the taller man is right by his side, comforting him. If Baekhyun feels like talking, he’ll listen while gently rubbing up and down his back. In return he is there for Chanyeol whenever his emotions get to him. He gets so easily attached to people so seeing them being swatted like flies takes its toll. They need each other. 

They detach themselves after a moment and Baekhyun asks “Are you going to be okay?” 

“The wound hurts, but I’ll manage. Let’s catch up with the rest, yeah?” 

The pair hurriedly makes their way through the grand palace because they need to catch up on quite some distance. It’s a lot to take in all the luxury of the palace when you’re running, but Baekhyun makes some effort to do so. They slow down a bit as soon as they enter a big hall with stairs leading to the first floor. Baekhyun is pretty sure that the room itself is bigger than his entire house, he has to crane his neck to even see the top of the stairs. In the distance, heavy footsteps of King’s soldiers can be heard, by the sound of it they are heading east, opposite of their direction. It’s a lot of them and Baekhyun fears for whichever team has to deal with them. 

“Tell me if I’m hearing this correctly, they’re going east right?” Chanyeol asks and Baekhyun nods to confirm. Chanyeol moves his head so he can speak into the mouthpiece of his headset. “Team A, 40 or more King’s soldiers heading in your direction so prepare,” he speaks hurriedly. Baekhyun notices the hint of fear in Chanyeol’s eyes and realises he must look the same. Team A is made up of mostly new and still inexperienced members of the Resistance and where given the least risky mission. Will they be capable enough to fight of that amount of trained soldiers?

“I know worry gets you nowhere in a time like this, but still, I’m worried,” Baekhyun confesses while they make their way through the first floor of the palace. 

“No, it’s completely understandable. I think they need some back-up.” 

“Good idea. Why don’t you ask which team is closest to them so they can help?” 

“I will, maybe we should join too? They can always use a few extra hands right?” 

Though the sound of fighting such a big group of King’s soldiers within the palace walls without any explosives at hand sounds terrifying, Baekhyun agrees. What they’re doing is so much bigger than him and his fears and they should help. The pair quickly descends the stairs while Chanyeol asks for back-up and informs their own team that it might take a while before they’re back. 

Turns out that team D was in close proximity to team A and are already making their way over. Not long after they join, Chanyeol moves to the front of the team to discuss something with the team captain. That leaves Baekhyun with some very determined looking man next to him. It takes a while before he recognises that man to be none other than Sehun. 

Baekhyun taps his arm to get his attention. “Hey buddy, I hadn’t expected you to be in the back.” 

Sehun lets out a deep sigh. “As much as I want to, the team captain doesn’t allow me to be in the front. You know, because I have to remain alive and all that.” 

“Yes of course, but you can be a helpful addition from the back of the group as well.” 

The taller man purses his lips and pats Baekhyun on the back. “You’re just saying that to be polite, but thanks.” 

Now that Baekhyun thinks about it, it’s fairly logical that the captain of team D refuses to put Sehun in any unnecessary danger, while still letting him fight. Because Sehun insisted on joining the Resistance members in fighting the King and his soldiers. After hearing what Sehun went through by hands of the King, Baekhyun can understand why. 

The group enters a new room in which the walls are decorated with paintings of all the Royals, from the beginning up until the current King. He isn’t on his own, seated next to him is an awkwardly smiling woman with a pale face and thin, arched eyebrows. Upon seeing the painting Sehun stomps towards it and angrily tears off the King’s face. He crumbles it up into a ball and throws it with such vigour that it makes him stagger. Baekhyun is just in time to catch Sehun, who is trembling in his grip. 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Baekhyun shushes. “I can’t imagine how hard it must be for you but at least stay with the group up until we reach the throne room, yeah?” 

Sehun’s tear filled eyes find his and he nods, taking one last look at the painting of his mother before re-joining the group. Team D hadn’t stopped despite the commotion behind them, helping team A is their absolute priority right now. It isn’t long before the echoing of gunshot hits Baekhyun’s ears. After hearing it countless times in the past couple of years, it still scares him. He tightens the grip around his weapon in anticipation for what’s to come. It feels off not having Chanyeol directly by his side, but he’ll have to deal with it for now. 

The team enters a massive kitchen area, where unsurprisingly, all the kitchen tops are made out of marble. It’s all very white, so much so that it almost blinds Baekhyun. There, huddled up in the door opening, are the King’s soldiers. None of them turn around, so the team still has the element of surprise with them. Silently, the team D captain instructs them to crouch behind a kitchen island close to the door. The sound of their footsteps is no doubt drowned out by the firing of King’s guards guns.

Right after everyone is settled and aimed their weapons, the team D captain gives them the sign to fire. The King’s guards don’t even get the chance to turn around before rain of bullets hits them. Only the front of their group has the opportunity to escape and sprints away. Baekhyun’s instincts kick in and he runs after them, not even bothering to look behind him to see how many people followed. Normally he could make that out from the footsteps, but the rooms surrounding the kitchen are all carpeted which dulls the sound. A bullet flies past his head, missing him by only a couple of centimetres. He aims his gun as best as he can while running and fires. Most of the bullets mis their targets completely, but at last he hits one guy in the back of his head. He falls to the ground with a thud and yet none of the other King’s soldier bat an eye. They’re obviously only trying to save themselves. 

Behind him a few guns go off, which makes it clear to Baekhyun that he isn’t the only one in pursuit of the King’s soldiers. One by one they fall down, but not without making some well-aimed shot themselves. Closely behind him someone groans before tumbling towards the ground. Fuck the King’s guards, Baekhyun prioritised the well-being of his fellow Resistance members. He halts and turns around to inspect the damage. It turns out it isn’t as bad as he thought, a bullet wound in his upper leg, nothing life threatening. Judging from the sounds of shouting a ricocheting bullets, there is still some chasing going on. Together with some other Resistance members that stayed behind he carries the man towards the kitchens where he is patched up. 

After what seems to be only a few minutes, the team is once again complete as the members following the guards return. Aside from the man that was shot in his leg, team B has help up pretty well. Unfortunately, of team A, only half of the members that initially started this coupe are currently standing in front of him. Something he feared would happen came true, half of team A has been wiped out. They were all very brave but obviously weren’t experienced enough to hold their own against a bunch of trained soldiers. Baekhyun swallows the lump in his throat and tries to console some of the crying Resistance members. 

There isn’t much time for them to take a breather and process the loss, because they’re far behind the other teams. Once everybody has gathered their stuff they march on, back towards the stairs and on their way to the throne room. 

Finally, they reach the doors of the room the King allegedly resides in. Most other teams are already positioned in front of the door. The group greets their fellow Resistance members, relieved that so many were still standing and together they wait for the last team to arrive. Baekhyun naturally gravitates to Chanyeol, running a hand down his back to get his attention. 

“It’s almost over, can you believe it?” 

“It better be, I’m sick of watching people die,” Chanyeol answers solemnly. 

“Yeah, me too.” 

The other teams arrive soon after that. Team E has suffered the greatest loss. Their captain looks absolutely devastated as she informs that the King’s soldiers, although outnumbered, had some incredibly high-tech weapons, which cost a lot of people their lives. Out of the around 35 members, only a handful are currently standing amongst them. A lot of the wounded members have been left on the roof, so whether or not they survive the cold long enough for their rescue is the question. The captain of team E encourages everyone to hurry up. Everyone quickly springs into action, distancing themselves from the door while explosives are being situated around it. 

The explosives go off in a soaring loud noise, smoke blinding everyone. Baekhyun hears the captain scream and they rush through the smoke into the throne room. Inside they find the King surrounded by only a dozen or so soldiers, who meet their end before they can even fire a single bullet. Once the smoke cleared Baekhyun was in awe at the contents of the room. Inside it stands a massive, wooden table with throne at the head. The other chairs, carefully crafted by an expert pale in comparison to the throne. It is elegantly decorated, with a massive golden crown on top of the tall backrest. Both the armrests are made out of loins carved out of wood. From what Baekhyun heard, the King liked to compare himself to the animal, which makes him think that maybe the throne had been custom made. Not that it matters anymore, soon the chair will become another memory, just like the King himself.

Alone in front of the table stands the most pathetic figure Baekhyun has ever seen. The King, wearing beautiful, silk robes befit for royalty, falls to his knees in pleas. Baekhyun is absolutely disgusted by the display of cowardice from the man who used to rule their kingdom with an iron fist. White, hot anger courses through his veins. It takes all of his willpower not to push people aside and strangle him with his bare hands. He’s snapped out of his blind rage when fingers interlace his own. Chanyeol squeezed his hand for a moment, a small smile on his lips when he glances at Baekhyun. The smile is gone a moment later when he returns to the pathetic creature in front of them. There is a twinge of satisfaction knowing that this is how the monster meets his end, whimpering on his knees in front of the people he attempted to destroy. 

In the meeting the Resistance had before they travelled to the palace, it was decided who would execute the King. Baekhyun didn’t mind who, as long as he could be there to witness it. Numerous people stepped forward, all eager to fulfil that task. Amongst them were many workers, who had to witness their friends and family suffer and die prematurely because of the King’s regime. However, nobody had more personal beef with the man than Oh Sehun. He had perfect posture and neatly manicured hands, so Baekhyun was sceptical at first. He didn’t know the guy yet, what suffering could have come to a man who carried himself like he hadn’t worked a single day in his life? 

Then Baekhyun remembered Chanyeol’s childhood stories, how it’s normal for people of higher status to grow up in loveless home, where everything revolves around maintaining a certain image, status and wealth. He’s not the one to decide if someone has suffered ‘enough’. Besides, not all hurt can be seen on the outside. So Baekhyun decided to be open minded and listen to the story of the well put together man. 

Oh Sehun, the only child of a busy tradesman and an even busier restaurant owner had a pretty normal live, until the King laid his eyes on his mother making her usual rounds in her restaurant. Having gotten everything his heart desired his entire life, he decided that he was going to make the woman his Queen, despite her already being married to Sehun’s father. Fast forward to endless rejected advanced and the King became impatient. In the middle of the night, he had send several King’s guard to kill his father and abduct his mother. Several attempts from Sehun to speak out about the matter had been fruitless, resulting only in him being threatened by members of the Royal council to keep his mouth shut. Once it became clear that he wouldn’t be silenced, the King ordered for Sehun to be publicly executed for ‘treason of the Crown’. He of course fled, opting to live with his aunt and uncle under another name. There his life of seclusion and fear would start. Every day he would wake up, afraid that this time the King’s guard would find him and brutally murder him, just like they did with his father. He rarely left his new home, spending his days locked inside mourning the loss of both parents and doing light chores around the house. 

Baekhyun had been in shock while hearing the story unravel, especially after Sehun told them that his mother met her end by jumping out of the palace window a couple of years after her kidnapping. After that, everyone agreed that Sehun should be the one to execute the King. Now that he knows Sehun on a more personal level other than what happened to his parents he’s even more convinced that the man deserves to be the last face that the King sees before he dies. 

It appears that none of that ruthless leader is left now that the King is stuck inside the throne people with people that resent his very being. They surround him, trapping him between themselves and the polished wooden table. The group of resistance members part to let Sehun through, who looks understandably murderous. The captain of team D pats him on the back and gives him an encouraging nod, as if he’s a child about to perform in a play instead of executing someone.

“The honour is yours, Sehun,” The team captain says.

Sehun looks determined, grabbing his gun and turning the safety off. “Thank you,” he answers before directing his attention to the King. “I just want to know one thing. What happened to my mother?” 

The King’s entire expression morphs into something ugly, gone is the previous trembling man begging for his life to be spared. It’s truly the face of a monster. “Not killing you is one of the biggest mistakes of my life,” he scoffs. “Your mother didn’t take a liking to being pampered and treated like a Queen. She went insane, what a crazy woman that was. Even when she was carrying my next of kin she still decided to end her own life.” 

Sehun looks possibly even more furious. He draws back his hands and hits the King square in the face with the handle of his gun. 

“You got her pregnant?” He screams, voice trembling with rage. 

Pain briefly flashes across his face before he’s right back to arrogant. “Not for lack of trying. She started to like it eventually.” 

Sehun looks ready to attack, but the team D captain stops him. “Don’t engage, just shoot him and have it be over with.” 

The tall man nods meekly and aims his gun. A loud ‘pang’ sounds across the room and momentarily it’s quiet. With a thud the King falls to the ground ungraciously, his pudgy fingers grasping at something, anything that could possibly end the blood gushing out of the wound in his stomach. Even with all his riches and status, the notorious ruler meets his end like most other soldiers do, being shot by the enemy. Not a single tear is shed for the man who lays dying on the floor. The King draws his last shaky breath before all life leaves his eyes. The man who has made their lives a living hell is finally dead. To Baekhyun it feels like a bittersweet ending to this years’ long battle. Hopefully ending the King’s reign of terror was worth laying down their lives for.

 

 

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

 

“I still don’t understand why this is necessary,” as Baekhyun speaks he can see his breath forming little clouds in the chilly night air. It’s a cold and rainy day, which he would much rather spend inside. It was his boyfriend whom dragged him out the house because he insisted on having a date. 

“What, you mean eating out? Isn’t it fun to get out of our daily bustle for a little while?” 

“But we’re basically paying to see each other. I can see you for free back home.” 

Chanyeol playfully hits Baekhyun’s shoulder and pouts. “It’s supposed to be romantic. Think about it this way: neither of us have to cook nor clean the mess after.” 

“You got me there, let’s go on this romantic date.” The idea of going home with their bellies full and a still clean kitchen certainly gets Baekhyun enthusiastic. And having Chanyeol sitting in front of him, his beautiful face illuminated by candle light is worth it, even if it costs him. Baekhyun loves having Chanyeol all to himself and hearing him passionately retelling stories about whatever happened during the day. 

It's not the first time that Baekhyun has been to a restaurant, not by a long shot. When the first opportunity to eat outside the door arose, Chanyeol and Baekhyun took it with both hands. If Baekhyun thought the prison food was good, the dishes at the restaurants gave a whole new meaning to the word delicious. Inside the wall there were never such places because who had the money? Yes they had a few bakeries and places were you could shop for food but never a whole place dedicated to serving it to you. If he hadn’t read it in a book during his time in prison the concept would have been completely foreign to him. And don’t even get him started on the décor. After seeing the inside of the palace it wasn’t as much of a shell shock, but he was still surprised that a place that mostly focussed on serving you good food always looked to well maintained. Chanyeol explained that it was part of the appeal, restaurants had to be pleasing for the eye as well. Baekhyun just thought that that was asking too much but who is he to argue. 

As they are heading towards the restaurant they pass by several posters announcing the upcoming elections and encouraging the people to vote for a specific candidate. Baekhyun is ecstatic to vote for the first time in his life. Setting up a democratic system hadn’t been without it’s hurdles, but there has been a lot of help and support from other countries. 

“Didn’t you date anyone back in the workers district?” 

“We didn’t really date. You’d just fuck people until you find someone that’s worth investing your time in.” Chanyeol looks absolutely scandalised, his expression bordering on cartoonish. 

“So, did you find anyone worth your time?” 

“Yes actually, in prison of all places!” Baekhyun exclaims.

“Oh really? He must be criminally good looking then.” 

“He’s all right.” Chanyeol shoved him, pouting at him when Baekhyun recovers. Baekhyun snorts and kisses the pout away, before opening the door to the restaurant Chanyeol had made reservations at. He’s never been there and it’s still feels little alien to be inside fancily decorated places. Or he would describe it as fancy, with spotless white walls filled with landscape paintings and oriental pieces, comfortable chairs and slick, wooden tables. To Chanyeol it is just another restaurant, he even said the place is nowhere close to high-end, but he really loves the food here. 

The pair waits at the front entrance until a waiter arrives and leads them to their table. Chanyeol points out the dishes he enjoys the most and Baekhyun ends up ordering the dish that made Chanyeol’s eyes sparkly simply by even talking about it. If that’s the case, it must be nothing short of delicious. 

“I didn’t hear you wake up last night. Are your nightmares getting better?” 

Baekhyun was absolutely delighted when he found out that he had slept the whole night and couldn’t remember what he dreamed. Unfortunately, Chanyeol had already left for an early shift at the prison that morning, so he had to be happy by himself. “I can’t remember any nightmares and I’ve been waking up less and less recently. So that’s good process.” 

“That’s amazing, Baekhyun! You look a lot more chipper than usual. I’m so happy for you.” Chanyeol intertwines their hands together above the table and gives Baekhyun’s slender hands an encouraging squeeze. 

“And what about you? Have you been feeling better lately?” 

“Actually I have. I can keep my emotions in check a lot easier ever since I’ve been visiting a psychologist. Also the fact that you are with me most of the times helps a ton.” Chanyeol explains. 

“I’m so proud of you, you’re doing so well.” Baekhyun was hoping for a reaction, as he would usually get, but this time Chanyeol remained quiet. 

“Yeol, is something wrong?” 

“There has been something eating at me for a while,” Chanyeol admits, his hands twitching slightly in Baekhyun’s grip. “I’m afraid that sooner or later you’ll leave me. Now that you have the world at your footsteps, and you being so cute and charismatic, you’re bound to come across someone much more interesting than me. You see, in prison I was the only one that showed the any kindness and maybe that’s the reason you’ve grown attached to me.” 

“Chanyeol, the reason that I fell in love with you was because despite you being brainwashed to hate workers, you were still fair to me. We’ve been outside the wall for a four or so years now, there is simply no one that fits with me as well as you do. There is a reason that I hadn’t really been in a relationship before I met you, I just didn’t connect with someone on the level that we do. I love you and nothing’s going to change that.” 

Even in the dim lighting of the restaurant he can see a hint of pink coating Chanyeol’s cheeks. He gushes out some words that Baekhyun for the life of him can’t make out.

“Have I convinced you?” 

“Without a doubt.” 

Not long after, their waiter shows up with their food accompanied by two glasses of bubbles. Baekhyun looks at the man in front of him and realises that throughout these four years they have been through so much together. Prison felt like such a different part of his life. So did the war and Chanyeol has been with him during it all. With the start of a new part of his life he realises he loves Chanyeol even more, because he gets to discover new things about him. Without him Baekhyun would feel like all those different pieces of his life would feel so separate, but Chanyeol connects them and makes them hole. At every new beginning, it feels their love for each other becomes more endless, hence the reason why Baekhyun always looks forward to them.   
He fully takes in his surroundings, walking outside on the streets a free man and raises his glass.

“To new beginnings!” 

Chanyeol smiles and parrots his movements.

“To new beginnings.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lot different from the ones before it, so let me know what you think! I hope that with this chapter and especially with the bit of fluff I tried to write at the end this is a satisfying conclusion to this story. It was a bitch to write let me tell you that but I pulled through and delivered (kind of, it’s still a bit late but better late than never am I right ladies?). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading!


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